Azula's Spider
by HandAssassinSpider-man
Summary: When Azula was a child she met an interesting young boy that held a spirit within him and the two struck up an unlikely friendship. As the years go by and the two are sent off to hunt down the Avatar they began to find that their feelings for each other may be deeper than they realize. Azula soon finds trying to win a hundred year war is easier than admitting her feelings to Piteo.
1. Chapter 1

So, I'm a big fan of the Avatar series and its sequel the Legend of Korra and one thing I always found odd is that the Avatar spirit Raava and to some extent Vaatu are the only sprits that ever seem to inhabit people. So, then I thought with other sprits over the centuries had done something similar, now doesn't mean they could bend multiple elements but maybe some could do more things like maybe if a person was housing a fish spirit of some sort they could breathe underwater to some extent and if they are a waterbender maybe their abilities might be just a bit superior to others or maybe they house a bird spirit and have superior eye sight, and stuff like that.

This is where Piteo which is Korean for Peter. And in this story Peter Parker lives in the Avatar world and is a citizen of the Fire Nation and has a spider spirit inside him. Now his abilities would be enhanced strength, speed while inferior to a Airbender's is still impressive, sticking to walls and capable of producing organic webs. He won't however be a fire bender and must rely more on his fighting skills like Mai or Tylee to be able to hold his own in a fight.

I did some research about this kind of thing and to look for a word that I could use to categorize these kinds of people in this story and eventually I settled on something from India called a Ghorala. The Concept comes from Rajasthan, a state in India where Ghorala's are seen normally in a negative light even if the sprit possessing them is benevolent. There's more to it than that but I thought that's all you needed to know at this point.

He's also a childhood friend of Azula that over the course of the story begins to like him a bit more than just a friend. This chapter picks up before Lu Ten dies at Ba Sing Se and Azulon dies and all that business.

Disclaimer I don't own any Marvel or Avatar the Last Airbender characters seen, mentioned or used in this story

* * *

Azula of the Fire Nation was a complicated person, even as a child no one knew what to expect from her. One day she could be the most adorable little angel and the next it was as if she was the herald of some ancient spirit of destruction. But many could agree that she was rather smart for her age and far more observant than many think possible for a girl so young.

So when she heard and saw that a distant relative, who was considered family more by law than actual blood was coming to the live at the palace Azula took it upon herself to investigate the manner.

Zuko her older brother didn't seem to care and rather spend more time with their mother and for some reason try to win their father's approval.

' _Don't why he bothers, father never seems to care much for him anyway'_ Azula thought as she made her way through the halls of the Imperial palace on her own. From what she's gathered or more accurately overheard, the newcomer was being housed not too far from her room.

She eventually found the room she was looking for and took a quick look around to see if anyone was near before knocking loudly. While normally she'd just barge in, the fact that the Fire Lord placed a distant relative here in the Royal Family's quarters spoke volumes.

' _Maybe he's some illegitimate child that grandfather sired'_ Azula thought as she heard movement on the other side of the door.

She didn't have to wait long for the door to open and she was greeted to the sight of a boy who appeared to be around her age. She also noted that she was a few centimeters taller than him. He had short brown hair and bright brown eyes that held a sort of mischief in them that Azula has often been told she possess. The boy was also dressed in a red and black tunic like hers and Zuko's but obviously fitted for his size.

The boy blinked at her for a moment before he poked his head out and looked around before settling his gaze on her "What?"

Azula felt her brow twitch before speaking "I'm Princess Azula"

The boy looked at her for a moment before nodding "Okay and?"

Azula was taken back by the remark "And? Don't you know what me being a princess means!"

"Sort of" the boy shrugged.

"It means that you should be bowing before me as I'm of a higher station as a member of the Royal family" Azula said as she folded her arms and raised her chin "And since you're of a distant relation, that means I'm superior to you!"

The boy looked at her in confusion before speaking "But Fire Lord Azulon said that my status was raised"

This took Azula back as from what she's heard it was incredibly rare for any Fire Lord to ever raise the status of a distant family member that wasn't part of the royal bloodline. Like of the last ten Fire Lords, only thee ever did that.

"What makes you so special?" Azula gave him a curious gaze.

The boy shrugged "I don't know, but after my parents died I was taken in by the Fire Sages and after a while they said I was special and eventually contacted the Fire Lord. Next thing I know, I'm being told to move here"

Azula frowned at that ' _What's so important about him that grandfather wou-'_

Azula's eyes narrowed as a thought came to her "Do you know exactly what it was that the Fire Sages said was special about you?"

The boy seemed to think about it for a moment before nodding "Yeah, they said something about me being a… Ghorala"

Azula's eyes widened at this information, this wasn't what she was expecting to hear but none the less surprising "You're a Ghorala?"

The boy looked at her in slight confusion before nodding "Yes… is that a bad thing?"

"…No at least not in the Fire Nation" Azula said as she thought this over.

She was right in that the Fire Nation doesn't look down on Ghorala like in the Earth Kingdom that has in the past tried to have the 'False Avatars' eradicated. Ghorala were basically people who contain a spirit within them and possess unique abilities not are too dissimilar to the Avatar and depending on the type of spirit housed within a person they had the potential to be a powerful person. Not to the same degree as the Avatar but pretty darn close.

The boy was watching her for a while until he suddenly held out his hand "I'm Peito by the way"

Azula looked at the offered hand and took it with her own and shook it "Princess Azula of the Fire Nation"

"You already said that" Peito said in a deadpanned expression.

"And don't you forget" Azula said with a glare that caused the boy to pale.

"Yes sir"

Azula smirked at his reaction "Good, now than I want you to play with me"

Peito looked at her in surprise "Really, why?"

Azula gave him an annoyed expression "Because my friends can't visit today and I'd rather not bother with Zuzu"

Azula saw Peito's brow furrow in confusion and quickly elaborated "Zuzu is Zuko, my big dum-dum of a brother"

"That doesn't seem very nice" Peito said.

"Yes well neither is not playing with a girl who's all alone and yet that's exactly what you're doing" Azula said as she turned away with a look of mock sadness on her face.

Peito looked at her for a long time before he sighed "Your guilt tripping me aren't you?"

"Is it working?"

"…Yes"

"HA!" Azula let out a triumphant cheer before grabbing Peito and began dragging him from his room and down the hall.

' _Having him around here could be fun'_ Azula thought as she made her way to the gardens with her new reluctant friend.

…

A few minutes later Azula was standing in front of Peito in the gardens eyeing him with a critical gaze. Peito couldn't help but feel intimidated, it also didn't help that she was slightly taller than him and seemingly stronger too.

' _Than again I've never been around a lot of girls before, maybe it's normal'_ Peito thought as Azula nodded in satisfaction.

"Yes you should do just fine. Tell me Peito how much skill do you have in firebending?"

"None" Peito said with a shrug.

Azula looked startled "Wait, you aren't good or you aren't a bender?"

"The second one" Peito said as he scratched the back of his head "Why do I need to be?"

Azula looked at him for a long moment before she sighed "Well there goes that plan"

She than began to look around for anything else to entertain them when suddenly her stomach and Peito's growled. Azula blushed slightly while Peito frowned.

"I'm hungry, where's the kitchen?"

Azula rolled her eyes, forgetting about her embarrassment "We don't go to the kitchens Peito, we have servants for that"

"But then won't the food be cold when they finally get it to us?" Peito said in slight confusion.

While Peito's family was wealthy and considered nobles, they didn't have a massive estate or many servants outside one to attend to his mother and the guards. Most of the time if he was hungry he'd just walk into the kitchen and ask the staff for something or get it himself.

"No Peito, as your now considered a member of the Royal family, that means we have people do it for us" Azula said before she began to look for a servant.

"Seems lazy" Peito said as he followed Azula.

"It's not, besides they willingly chose the job" Azula said with a roll of her eyes "Not my fault they think being submissive is a great job"

"With if they were forced to be a servant?" Peito asked.

"Then they can take it up with the spirits in the afterlife" Azula said before she spotted her mother and Zuko approaching "Oh great…"

Peito noticed the sudden shift in Azula's mood and followed her gaze to see a woman that looked like an older version of Azula approaching and a young boy.

' _Guess that's her mother and brother'_ Peito thought as the woman saw the duo and approached.

"Azula who's this?" Ursa sked as she looked to see a young boy around her daughter's age standing next to her.

"His name is Peito mother, he's the one that grandfather had brought here. He's my new friend" Azula said in a slightly annoyed tone.

"Friend?" Peito said with a roll of his eyes "I think forced acquaintance is a better term"

Azula's brow twitched as he turned to glare at Peito "How so?"

"Well for one you kind of dragged me here against my will" Peito pointed out.

"And if I didn't where would you be right now hmm?" Azula looked at him pensively.

"…Sitting in my room" Peito said with a cough.

"Exactly, so shush and be grateful that I even bothered with you" Azula said.

"Kind of wishing you hadn't" Peito said dryly which caused Azula to growl in annoyance.

"Just for that your banished!" Azula said as she turned her back to him "You can find your way out I'm sure"

"Whatever you say or great Fire Lord Azula" Peito said with a bow.

"Don't mock me!" Azula shouted.

Ursa was watching the two in amusement as they went back and forth, completely ignoring her and Zuko as if they were in their own little world. She couldn't help the small smile she gave the two while Zuko was watching them for a moment before he turned to his mother.

"Mother, I'm hungry" Zuko said as he pulled on her sleeve to get her attention.

Ursa looked to Zuko and smiled "Zuko you just had breakfast not even an hour ago"

"I know but I'm still hungry" Zuko complained.

Meanwhile Peito and Azula were still arguing only now it's moved from mocking Azula as Fire Lord to the style of her hair.

"It looks like something I've seen on those Ostrich horses at the zoo" Peito said as he pointed to her bun.

"It does not!" Azula stomped her foot down in annoyance.

"Yeah it kind of does" Peito said with a satisfied smile on his face.

Azula was on the verge of lighting his hair on fire when her mother cleared her throat loudly and caught both youth's attention.

"Azula me and Zuko here were about to have lunch, would you and your friend like to join us?" Ursa sked kindly.

It was then that Azula gave her mother a glare "Why? Me and Peito were in the middle of a game"

"No we weren't" Peito said innocently even though his eyes screamed anything but.

"Quite!" Azula glared at Peito's grinning face.

Suddenly Azula's stomach growled rather loudly and caused her to blush as Peito snickered while Ursa chuckled.

"I don't know Azula, you sound pretty hungry to me" Zuko said with teasing grin.

Azula growled as she folded her arms "Fine! I'm hungry happy?"

Ursa chuckled as she began gestured the three to follow her "Come along, I sent word earlier to the staff to prepare us a meal"

"I still don't like the idea of strangers making my food" Peito mumbled.

"You make it sound like they're going to poison it" Azula said with a scoff.

"Wouldn't blame them" Peito said with a sigh full of so much dread, it rivaled Mai's.

' _Agni help me when he does meet Mai'_ Azula thought with her brow twitching as she and her new friend followed her mother and brother into the palace.

* * *

And done.

So, here's the first chapter, next one will be a bit of a time skip. Not too long like a few weeks and will show more interactions or Peito with the royal family.


	2. Chapter 2

Answers to reviewers' questions or statements:

 **Lustful-Angel96** : Maybe, I haven't planned that far ahead yet.

 **Great Sayianman54** : There'll be a few more chapters that deal with Peito and I'll elaborate on his abilities as the story goes but yes he is pretty smart and that genius level thinking will be noticed by quite a few people.

 **MicroDime:** The whole spirit thing will be elaborated and explored as the story goes on and we see more Ghoralas appear later on.

 **Sithlord king** : Azula will be surprised by his powers as the story unfolds and even taken back by his strength even though she's known him for years. Spider-man just has a knack for surprising people.

 **nightmaster000:** Yes, more will appear as the story goes on.

Disclaimer: I don't own any Marvel or Avatar the Last Airbender characters seen, mentioned or used.

* * *

Things in the place had taken a subtle and barely notable shift in the past few weeks since Peito has come to live there. For one, larger than normal spider webs have been found on occasion and some of the cleaning staff have become slightly annoyed to see dirt and other stains along the walls and occasionally the ceiling. But the most notable change came in the form of Azula…

To some of the staff's relief and even her brother Zuko, Azula seems to have taking to spending more time with her new 'very reluctant friend' than tormenting others. Though Peito would say he was anything but willing in the arrangement but couldn't find a real genuine reason not to spend time with the slightly arrogant and terrifying girl.

And the up side was he got to meet her two other friends Mai and Ty Lee who he's taken a liking too, Ty Lee especially. Her bubbly personality was a nice relief compared to Mai's less than cheerful attitude and Azula's… Azulaness.

The four have since come to find themselves in the gardens near a small pond that the resident turtle ducks have taken to calling home.

"So do they pay a tax to live here or do they come and go as they please?" Peito asked as he gestured to the small family of turtle ducks.

Azula who was in the midst of a staring contest with Ty Lee decided to answer him "Their animals Peito, they don't have to pay any taxes and even if they did how could they?"

Peito shrugged "I don't know, maybe with feathers?"

Mai snorted as she was twirling with a few blades of glass and Ty Lee giggled at the comment. Azula felt her brow twitch before she sighed and regrettably blinked.

"YAAAAA! I win!" Ty Lee hoped up and down at winning the little contest.

Azula watched her with a blank gaze and briefly entertained the idea of shooting a small fire ball at her but conceded. It wasn't that big of a deal, now had it been something more challenging like say seeing how many flips one can do in a row without failing than yeah she might get a little vindictive.

"Congratulations Ty Lee, you can go several minutes without blinking" Mai said dryly.

"Hey maybe you and Peito could try it, see who can go longer until they have to blink" Ty Lee suggested.

"I'm good" Mai and Peito both said at the same time with Peito continuing his train of thought "Besides, I don't think I'd last long against a girl who's face looks like it can be mistaken for a statute… no offence"

"None taken" Mai said as she brushed some of her hair out of face and looked around the gardens for anything to elevate her boredom "Azula where's Zuko at?"

Azula rolled her eyes at hearing Mai ask for her dum-dum of a brother "Probably with mother making a fool of himself, why you want to go watch?"

Mai gave the princess a dry look "That's not very nice…"

"So I've been told" Azula gave Peito an annoyed look.

"…Why you looking at me?" Peito said in mild confusion.

"Because you're the one that's always going on about how I should be nicer to Zuzu" Azula said annoyed.

"Oh yeah I do say that" Peito said as he remembered saying something like that yesterday "Well have you?"

"The fact I just insulted him not even a minute go should be your answer" Azula deadpanned.

"Hmm" Peito adopted a thoughtful look on his face before he got a suddenly good idea, least he thinks it is "How about we invite him to play with us?"

"Why would we do that?" Azula asked with some humor in her voice as she decided to hear the Ghorala out, who knows he actually might make a valid point.

It didn't escape Mai and Ty Lee notice over the past few weeks that the princess seemed to humor Peito more often than them or anyone else really. Mai figured she just wanted to keep Peito close given that he's a Ghorala and could prove to be a helpful ally in the future, Ty Lee thinks it's because it's the beginning of an epic romance like in the stories her mother would tell her and her sisters for bedtime.

' _Romance riiiiight'_ Mai thought sarcastically as she watched Peito try to explain to Azula why having another guy play with them would be beneficial… for him.

"I mean I can't always be the damsel in distress which by the way sounds more like a girl thing" Peito stated.

"Yes well I think it's about time the girls be allowed to be the hero for a change" Azula said with a snort "There's plenty of stories of boys being the hero, why can't me, Mai or Ty Lee have a turn for once?"

"Well for one it's almost always you that's the hero while Mai and Ty Lee end up 'dying'" Peito said in a deadpanned tone "Second there's plenty of girl heroes like your firebending teacher Yugito and better yet she's a Ghorala too!"

Azula was about to respond when she saw her father approaching them with a calm expression on his face. Mai and Ty Lee both saw him and immediately bowed to him while Peito simply stared at the man in curiosity.

"Hello father" Azula nodded towards her father.

"Azula" Ozai responded with a nod before he turned his sights on Peito "So you're the one that the Firelord has taken in…the Ghorala correct?"

Peito felt his brow twitch and was tempted to respond with something smart but wisely decided to keep his mouth closed and simply nod. Azula was relieved that for once her friend actually decided to keep quiet, she wasn't sure how her father would react to Peito's sarcasm. Her father has very little patience when it comes to these kinds of things.

Ozai studied Peito for a moment before seeming to come to some sort of conclusion and retuned his gaze towards Azula "Daughter, Yugito tells me that your advancing quickly in your Katas"

Azula nodded a little surprised that he's speaking with her teacher. From what she's gathered, her father and teacher get along as well as fire and water "Yes… she's said I have a great potential to be one of the greatest firebenders alive"

"Indeed you do… see to it that you prove her right" Ozai said before he turned and left the four to themselves.

After he was far enough away Peito finally spoke "For a firebender, that guy feels pretty cold"

"Oh hush you" Azula growled out before she bopped him in the head "And thank you for once keeping that mouth of yours closed"

Peito rubbed his head in annoyance as he glared at Azula "Well I didn't feel like getting roasted alive thank you very much"

"That hasn't stopped you from arguing with Yugito and I distinctly remember you telling Firelord Azulon that he needs get out more or risk looking like a ghost" Mai pointed out.

"Well that's because I know they won't actually set me on fire, Yugito doesn't strike me as the type dumb enough to risk the Firelord's wrath and Firelord Azulon thought I was funny" Peiot said before he felt Azula hit him again "Ow!"

"Don't call my father dumb Peito" Azula said with narrow eyes as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Well it's true" Peito shot back.

The two glared at each other for several minutes while Mai and Ty Lee slowly back away for the possible fight to break out between the two. Peito met Azula's glare for another several seconds before he grinned and stuck at his tongue.

"He's dumb!" he then turned and ran from the fuming girl.

"When I get my ha-" Azula tried to take a step forward but found herself stuck. She looked down to see her feet were webbed to the ground and she made a noise of anger "Peito when I get out of this I'm setting you on fire and banishing you to the farthest corner of the Fire Nation!"

Azula much to her annoyance was met with the fading laugh of the Ghorala as she looked towards Mai and Ty Lee with a scowl "Tell no one of this!"

She was met with the giggles of Ty Lee while Mai cracked a smile.

"Whatever you say Azula" Mai said before she too started to laugh at the fuming princess who started to burn the webs off her feet while muttering about 'dum dum spider boys'.

…

Azula didn't see Peito until later in the evening when her grandfather had invited her family for dinner. Azulon sat at the head of the table as per usual and tradition with her father to his left. Her mother sat beside him with Zuko next to her and Azula on the far end, not that she minds. It means her parents are less likely to notice her doing anything they'd frown upon or at least her mother.

To her delight Peito was sitting across from her and contently poking at his food while Azula did the same. The room was quite with the only noise being the sounds of silverware occasionally hitting the plates as the royal family ate. Dinner's used to be more talkative but ever since Iroh and Lu Ten left things have for the most part been quiet and occasionally tense depending on the Firelord's mood.

"How are your children's studies proceeding Ozai" Azulon spoke as he poured himself a glass of wine.

Ozai finished swallowing his food before answering his father in a calm and slightly confident tone "Very good father. They are both advancing rather splendidly, in fact Azula's teacher Yugito as said-"

"And Peito, what of you?" Azulon interrupted his son and addressed the young Ghorala.

"Um find Firleord Azulon…" Peito said in a quiet voice.

Azulon smirked at the answer as he took a sip of his wine "Are there any particular fields you've taken an interest in?"

"…Engineering sir" Peito said feeling a little fidgety at having the Firelord's attention solely on him "A-And alchemy when I have time"

"Interesting fields…" Azulon murmured before looking towards his two grandchildren "What of you Prince Zuko, Princess Azula?"

"Swordsmanship grandfather" Zuko said hesitantly which earned a nod from the aged man before he turned his attention towards Azula "And you my dear?"

"Firebending grandfather" Azula said in a prideful tone, ignoring the look from her mother.

"Firebending?" Azulon said with interest "I would have figured you preferred the classes that revolve around being a lady of the court. Your teachers I've heard say you are quiet adapt"

"Forgive me grandfather, but I prefer spending my time mastering firebending katas over what dress to wear to court or the proper steps to dancing" Azula said with a hint of annoyance in her tone.

Azulon chuckled "I can see that my late wife's blood burns deep in you young one. She was of a similar mindset, preferring the distant battlefields and heat of battle rather than stuffy meetings with nobility and learning how to make tea…"

Azulon than looked towards Ozai and Ursa with a hard stare "See to it that your daughter receives longer hours of firebending practice, Yugito will not mind. In fact, she's been asking me to let her take full mentorship of your daughter"

"As you wish father" Ozai said in a calm tone while Ursa looked less than pleased but wisely remained silent on the matter.

"Wrong Ozai, as your daughter wishes, I'm merely helping her ensure she gets what she wants" Azulon said with a snort of grim amusement before turning to Peito "And you will be reciving training in how to harness your gifts by Yugito when she isn't training my granddaughter"

"Yes sir" Peito said nervously.

Azulon nodded before he slowly stood "I believe my time in this meal is over, please continue to your hearts content"

He then left with several imperial firebending guards as the rest of the royal family continued its meal. Several minutes of silence passed before Azula and Peito both finished their meals.

"I think I'll call it a night" Peito said as he stood up from the table and prepared to leave.

"Don't forget about tomorrow!" Azula said with a pointed look on her face.

"I won't" Peito sighed before shooting a playful glare at the princess "Just letting you know now, I'll deny everything if it blows up in our face"

"That's why we have servants Peito, they take the blame now shoo" Azula waved her hand at Peito's chuckling form as he was escorted back to his room by a pair of guards.

"Azula… what is Peito talking about?" Ursa asked her daughter feeling a bit nervous on what she has planned.

"Oh nothing too serious mother, if it all works that is. Good night" Azula said as she excused herself and made her way back to her room with a small mischievous smile on her face.

' _Oh tomorrow is going to be splendid!'_ Azula thought with a chuckle.

* * *

And done.

So next chapter Azula pull a prank, she gets to see a bit more of his abilities outside of webs and sticking to walls.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own any Marvel or Avatar the Last Airbender characters seen, mentioned or used in this story.

* * *

 _'Everything is in place'_ Azula thought with a smirk as she and Peito were quickly making their way from the imperial guard's quarters.

"Are you sure they won't know it was us?" the young boy asked as he followed Azula by slinging to the wall.

Azula let out a sigh of exasperation "Yes Peito I'm sure, unless you left a note saying 'Hey this was done by Princess Azula and Peito'…You didn't, did you?"

Peito huffed "No! I just don't want to get in trouble is all"

"Then why did you agree to help me with this?" Azula asked with an annoyed look.

"Because you threatened to light my favorite toy on fire if I refused" Peito deadpanned.

"Well maybe that will teach you not to play with toys!" Azula said as the two turned down a hall or more accurately Azula did while Peter jumped to the adjacent wall and kept crawling after her.

"I'm like seven what do you expect?" Peito said with a confused look.

"I expect you to act more mature instead of being so childish" Azula frowned at the boy.

Her father made it clear that playing silly childish games was beneath her and that she should focus are becoming the greatest firebender there was and continue in her studies to hopefully one day ascend to the throne. She wasn't particularly against the last part of her father's vision but she sometimes can't help but feel like that her father is molding her into something she may not end up liking.

Suddenly she felt Peito shaking her and causing her to nearly tumble over as a result if his almost supernatural strength.

Azula righted herself before staring at Peito with an annoyed look "What was that for!"

Peito frowned "You stopped running and have been standing there for like five minutes"

"I have?" Azula said in surprise, huh time flies when your busy thinking about your future.

"Yeah, I was beginning to think that you became like a statute or something" Peito said with a nod before the two suddenly heard distant screams coming from the Imperial guard's barracks.

The two snickered as they quickly made their way to the gardens when they heard Zuko's voice call out to them.

"Azula, Peito you'll never believe what happened" the young prince said in excitement.

"You finally did something impressive for father Zuzu?" Azula said in a bored tone which earned her an elbow to the side by Peito who gave her an annoyed look.

Zuko sighed as he tried to restrain himself from yelling at his sister "No Azula, I was merely coming to tell you that Uncle Iroh did it!"

Azula and Peito both frowned at what the older boy was saying with Peito decideing to be the voice of the duo.

"Uh did what?" he asked as he scratceh the back of his head in confusion.

"Uncle Iroh breached the outer wall of Ba Sing Se!" Zuko said with a grin on his face.

Azula and Peito's eyes both widened in shock at the reveal.

"Uncle Iroh, our tea loving uncle who once fell asleep in the middle of dinner right into his salad bowl breached the 'Impenetrable city'?" Azula said in disbelief while trying to picture her uncle actually succeeding where some of the greatest military leaders of the Fire Nation in the past and even before the great war started, succeed.

"Yeah isn't that crazy? That means the war might be over soon!" Zuko said in awe at his uncle's accomplishment.

"Well I'm not complaining, means I won't have to fight" Peito said with a shrug which earned him a curious stare from Azula and Zuko.

"What do you mean by that?" the young princess said.

Peito gave her a surprised look "Why else do you think I've been assigned to your teacher Yugito, the only other Ghorala in the Fire Nation that's seen battle? Fire Lord Azulon says their training me to one day help win this war"

Azula was surprised by that, and even more surprised that this escaped her notice. She thought that Peito was only here because he was related to the royal family, distant as that may be, and was a Ghorala. She didn't think it was so that he can be trained to be a sort of weapon against the Earth Kingdom who has reportedly started to conscript their own few remaining Ghorala's into the army-

' _Actually now that make's sense'_ Azula thought before shaking her head "Well I guess that means it'll be the Water tribes you'll have to fight in the future since by then, the Earth Kingdom will have fallen"

"Assuming the Avatar doesn't return" Peito countered with a raised brow.

"The Avatar is dead Peito" Azula said.

"I don't know Azula, great grandfather and even grandfather said that it was never confirmed if he was killed during the attack on the Air temples" Zuko said with a frown on his face "They just assumed he was because he never showed up after the attacks"

"See" Peiot gestured towards the older boy "And besides for all we know he's already been reincarnated into the next element in the cycle. He could be in Ba Sing Se for all we know!"

"So at best he'll know Earthbending and maybe Waterbending" Azula said with a shrug "Not that impressive, he still needs to master all four elements to be a fully realized Avatar"

"Maybe some Air nomads survived the initial attack and are living there?" Zuko guessed as he tapped his chin in thought "And as for Firebenders maybe the Earth Kingdom caught some from either the colonies or the army and are now forcing them to train the Avatar"

"That's mean, forcing people to train a boy or girl to destroy their nation" Peito said with a disturbed look on his face.

"Look it wont matter in the end anyways. At the rate Uncle is proceeding it'll be days now until he conquers Ba Sing Se" Azula said as she turned and began to make her way towards her room "And if the Avatar is still somehow alive, then he'll fall just like the Earth Kingdom will and the Air Nomads have…"

The two boys watched her leave for a while until Peito turned towards Zuko with a grin "Here what happned in the imperial guard barracks?"

"No what?" Zuko asked with interest.

Peter snickered "Someone released a bunch of spider snakes into their quarters"

Zuko's response was grin "Sounds funny, wanna go watch them try to catch them?"

"Right behind ya!" Peito said as the two ran towards the barracks to watch the comedic scene that sounded like it was still going on.

…

It was several weeks later that Peito found himself wandering through the halls of the palace after his session witth Yugito. Ghoala firebender was not holding back in his lessons to harness the power of the spirit within him. The first part of the training required that he become spiritualty attuned to the world and the sprit within no matter the situation he was in, meaning that he had to maintain this state of being to the point it was second nature all the while dodging blasts of fire from Yugito.

' _Honestly I think she's just using that as an excuse to throw fire balls at me'_ Peito thought with a grimace as he felt a bruise on his side start to ache.

He was so preoccupied with his aching body that his enhanced hearing almost didn't pick up what sounded like crying. Peito paused as he tried to zero in on the source which was a bit difficult given he had a headache from his intense training with Yugito.

' _Hmm I know whoever it is close but where are they…'_ Peito frowned before he finally found the source.

The crying was coming from the bath house!

Peito quickly approached the door and pushed it open and was surprised to see Azula huddled in the corner of the room with her head buried in between her knees.

"Azula?" Peito said in alarm as he ran over to see if hid friend was hurt "Are you alright?"

Azula looked up at Peito and frowned with tears coming out of her red eyes and down her face "What do you want Peito?"

"I heard you crying and came to see if you're alright…why are you in here anyway?" Peito asked with confusion, having never seen Azula like this before.

Azula didn't say anything for a long-time a she placed her head back in between her knees and stayed there. Peito frowned before he slowly sat by her side and waited in silence for her to say something. After what felt like hours for him Azula finally spoke even though it was muffled by the fabric on her knees.

"My mother think's I'm a monster"

Peito looked at her in surprise "What makes you say that?"

Azula lifted her head and rested her chin on her knees as she started at the opposite side of the room "I heard her talking about how something is wrong with me…"

Peito frowned at hearing that "Well that doesn't sound very nice of her, why would she say that?"

"Because I burned some stupid doll that uncle Iroh sent me" Azula said with a growl of annoyance.

"Oh…"Peito said with a thoughtful expression "Was there something wrong with the doll? Like it suddenly became alive and tried to eat your face?"

Azula gave Peito an confused look "Why would it do that?"

"I don't know" Peito said with a shrug "Maybe the Earth Kingdom found out about your uncle sending you a present and decided to make it a trap or something"

Azula gogled a little at that as she wiped her eyes "No Peito it wasn't some possessed evil doll that wanted to eat my face"

"You sure? Because that's exactly the kind of thing those dolls want you to think so that way than can get ya" Peito said in a sage like tone.

"Pretty sure" Azula started to giggle again before her face sobered "…He gave Zuzu a knife though. It belonged to the commanding officer of the outer wall that surrendered to uncle"

"Wait back up" Peito said with surprise "Your uncle gave Zuko a knife that sounds like it might be pretty cool and gave you a doll?"

"Clearly you can see who's the favorite" Azula said with an eye roll, her mood starting to improve slowly.

Peito frowned "Wait he gives you a doll, Zuko a knife, but I get nothing?"

"You should be grateful. I bet Uncle would have given you tea" Azula said with a snort.

"Tea is better than nothing" Peito wined in false disappointment before he started to laugh and was soon joined by Azula.

After a few moments, the two settled into a comfortable silence. It was than that Azula let out a content sigh and looked towards Peito.

"Thanks Peito"

Peiot gave her a confused look "Thanks for what?"

Azula smiled "For being a good friend"

Peiot looked at her in surprise before smiling "Well that's what friends do, they look out for each"

Azula snorted in amusement "Father often says that having friends is a sign of weakness and they can hinder your potential."

Peito hummed at that "But we're friends still right? I mean I'm not a firebender but-"

"Peito…" Azula said, interrupting the boy with a laugh "I don't care if you are a firebender or not…you'll still be my friend"

"Really?" Peito said with a smile on his face.

"Really..." Azula returned the expression as she held out her pinky "Promise?"

Peito smiled as he wrapped his around Azula's and they shook on it "Promise!"

…

It was a few days later that Azula found herself facing Peito across from her with their shared instructor Yugito watching from the sidelines.

The master Firebender was between twenty and thirty years old with waist length blonde hair, a rarity in the Fire nation, while garbed in black training pants and a red shirt that had a few burns in it from Azula sparing with her earlier.

' _More like a one sided beat down'_ Azula thought a little annoyed with how casually the older woman overpowered her, granted the woman was a master bender that was on par with the likes of General Iroh and Admiral Jeong Jeong but Azula wished that she lasted longer than a minute which according to Yugito was three times longer than any of her previous students lasted.

"Today I would like to see how well you both have progressed under my teachings" Yugito said in a calm manner, her red eyes watching them both carefully.

"Uh question" Peito raised his hand "What happens if we fail?"

Yugito sighed "Than I preserve what honor is left in you and burn you to a crisp"

"Oh that's sounds reasona-WAIT WHAT?!" Peiot said in shock.

Azula chuckled "Calm down Peito, she's kidding…" she grinned when she saw him sigh in relief "I'll be the one that burns you to a crisp"

Peito paled "But Azulla I thought we were friends…"

"And as your friend it's my duty to ensure you receive your just punishment" Azula smirked before she sent a medium sized fire ball towards the boy who easily side stepped it.

Azula's eyes narrowed in challenge as she sent several more smaller sized fore balls at Peito in a way that'd force him to dodge to where she wants him to go. Peito however seemed to recognize this as he made an inhuman leap over the flames and sent several web projectiles at Azula who shot several blasts at them and ducked under the last one that impacted against the ground.

Peito's eyes narrowed as he slowly began to advance upon Azula who tried to stall his advancements with small balls of concentrated fire and before resorting to using a whip of fire. Peito smirked at this as he shot several web lines towards the princess who easily batted the webs aside and took a step back and shot a wall of fire towards Peito who summersaulted backwards and shot two web lines that connected to a surprised Azula's chest and yanked her forward with more strength than she anticipated.

"AHH!" Azula let out a shriek as she found herself flying towards Peito.

She narrowed her eyes in concentration and flipped her body mid-air so that her feet were aimed at Peito and shot out a blast of fire that she saw had bits of blue at their centers and their edges. Peiot's eyes widened at the on coming fire and bent backwards to avoid getting hit until his shoulders were millimeters off the floor. He righted himself in time to dodge a jab from Azula and blocked a fire coated kick before he lightly pushed her on the chest that sent her flying back.

Azula in a last-ditch effort shot a large blast of fire at Peito that was to wide for him to effectively dodge and too close to leap over in time. Peito held his ground and let the blast make contact with him.

 **BOOOOM!**

Azula covered her eyes at the brightness of the blast before she slammed into the ground and skidded across the floor until her back hit something that stretched slightly and halted her momentum. She looked down to see that she landed on the web splat that Peito made earlier and groaned when she saw some of it got in her hair.

"It'll take forever to come out" Azula mumbled as she looked to see her flames die down to show Peito covered in soot and his shirt reduced to ashes.

Peito let out a cough as he brushed some of the ashes from his slightly singed hair "Well I think it's safe to say I won"

Yugito nodded as she approached the two "Indeed you have…Azula get up"

"Yes sifu" Azula sighed as she tried to burn the webs but frowned when they weren't reacting. She then turned towards her teacher with a frown "They're not burning"

Yugito frowned as she approached her and kneeled by her side with a questioning look on her face and formed a small almost blue colored flame on her two fingers and held it up towards the webs and waited.

"Is something wrong?" Peito asked with some concern as he approached the duo.

"Yes" Azula drawled out in annoyance "Your webs aren't burning like they should!"

"No they are" Yugito said as she saw it slowly beginning to burn "It's just taking longer because the flame needs to be hotter is all…you're getting stronger Peito"

Azula let out a grumble as she began to peel herself off the floor with some difficulty while Yugito stood up and turned towards Peito "Well done, you may take the rest of the day off"

Peito looked a bit unsure as he saw Azula get up and brush some dirt off her training clothes "Actually I was wondering if I could watch Azula train some more…if that's alright?"

Yugito looked towards Azula with a raised brow who responded with a sigh and a nod. Yugtio turned back towards her fellow Ghoala "Since the princess doesn't seem to mind than I suppose you can, so long as you remain quiet and not interfere with her training"

"Yes sifu" Peito nodded before he made his way towards the distant benches and sat down.

Azula gave him a small smile before she turned to see Yugito slip into a firebending stance that she didn't recognize "What kata is that?"

The blonde smirked at the princess as she slipped into her own slightly more advance basic form "It's called the strike of the Phoenix. It's an ancient style that was phased out almost four hundred years ago. Avatar Kyoshi was its last user before she died"

"Where'd you learn it?" Azula asked intrigued at possibly learning an ancient and likely powerful style. It'd sure give her a leg up with a lot of her firebenders who rely more on the aggressive stances that her mentor has mentioned in the past with slight disdain.

Yugito smirked "Perhaps I'll tell you one day but for now…DEFEND!"

She than sent a powerful ball of blue fire towards Azula whose eyes narrowed in determination all the while Peito watched on in awe.

* * *

And done.

Next chapter takes place the night of Ursa's leaving, Azulon's death, Ozai's rise to power and all that.

Now as for the strength of Peito's webbing, Zuko during the events of Avatar Book one would be able to melt the webs without too much trouble, Azula easily but don't worry he will get stronger until it takes flames on a powerful firebender to burn them. The reason Azula was having problems is because she's young and nowhere near as strong as she was in the show and later in life.


	4. Chapter 4

Answers to reviewers' questions or statements:

 **gunman** : You are right in that Azula won't be as brutal or sadistic as she was in the show, she'll still be cold and calculating but she won't be nearly devoid of empathy. As for having a change oh heart later like Zuko and maybe join him in helping the Avatar, maybe but nothing concrete yet. And yes Ty Lee will have fun teasing the two's relationship and Mai will make her own dry comments about these two over time.

Disclaimer: I don't own any Marvel or Avatar the Last Airbender characters seen, mentioned or used in this story

* * *

Many assume that Azula has little if any hobbies outside of firebending and learning how to be a princess and maybe one day a Fire Lord of the Fire Nation. Even her own parents don't think she does anything outside train, play/torture her older brother, and attend school and they would be right to an extent.

But in reality Azula does have a few hobbies that she partakes in when she has the time, they just aren't as grand or eye catching as many would expect. Case and point she much preferred to read in the gardens in the late afternoon when the gardens are almost empty and even the animals that inhabit seem to have quieted down.

It's not because she doesn't want others to see her read or anything, she just likes the silence most of the time which is hard to achieve when the garners are tending to the plants or her brother is whining about something again.

The only one she tolerates in her presence when she's trying to read is Peito, mainly because he's quite and or reading his own book at the time.

Azula was just turning the page to the novel that was theoretically beyond her level of reading when a shadow loomed over her and caused her to pause. She looked up towards the source to see it was Peito giving her a sympathetic look.

"I'm sorry" he said as he scratched his head, unsure with how to proceed.

Azula raised a questioning brow at her friend "Sorry for what?"

"For the death of your cousin Lu Ten" Peito clarified the recent and shocking development from Iroh's siege of Ba Sing Se.

"Oh…" Azula said with a frown and shrugged "Thank you I suppose"

Peito eyed her for a moment "Aren't you sad that your cousin is dead? I mean Zuko looked pretty shaken up"

Azula shrugged "I was never close with Lu Ten, partly because of our ages. By the time I was learning how to walk and talk he was already at the academy. When he was done he went right into the military under Uncle Iroh and has spent most of his time either on campaigns or in the colonies"

"But he was still family, right? Doesn't that mean anything to you?" Peito questioned.

Azula sighed at this and closed her book and looked towards, in her opinion, naïve friend "Peito, just because he and I shared blood doesn't mean we're family"

"What's that even mean?" Peito asked with confusion.

Azula was about to further explain, least the best to her ability when she saw her father approaching them. Azula frowned at this and stood up while Peito slowly backed away from the man. It wasn't because he was scared of the man or anything like that, there was just something about the second prince that rubbed Peito the wrong way for some reason.

' _Hmm maybe it's that goatee of his'_ Peito thought as he eyed the long chin hair discreetly.

"Yes father?" Azula looked up towards her father.

"Azula…" Ozai started before he stooped and looked towards Peito "I wish to speak with my daughter…in private"

Peito looked a bit annoyed at the man's dismissal of him but nodded "As you wish Prince Ozai" Peito than looked towards Azula "See you later"

Azula nodded and watched her friend turn on his heel and stalk his way out of the gardens before returning her attention to her father who was also watching the Ghorala. For some reason the way her father was watching her friend put her on edge slightly but quickly schooled her expression when the youngest son of Azulon turned towards her.

"I have scheduled an audience with the Fire Lord today in wake of the demise of Lu Ten" Ozai said straight to the point.

"For what reason father?" Azula asked.

"If things go well than you will soon see. But I expect you to not embarrass yourself before the Fire Lord when you demonstrate your skills" Ozai said with a slight edge of warning in his tone.

Azula was able to translate it as 'Don't embarrass me like your brother might'. She nodded "I will not disappoint you or the Fire Lord father"

Ozai nodded "that, I know without a doubt"

He then turned and made his way back into the palace while Azula watched him with a confused look on her face.

' _What does father wish to talk about with grandfather?'_ Azula thought before she sighed and made the trek to her rooms and dress for the upcoming meeting with the Fire Lord _'Hopefully father doesn't do something too drastic. Grandfather is likely already in a very sour mood'_

Azulon's temper was legendary and said to only be surpassed by that of a dragon's and even then, it was close. While Azula is proud to say she's never seen her grandfather 'explode' something tells her that this meeting might come pretty close to getting a reaction of that nature or worse out of him.

As it turns out…she was partially right.

…

Peito was just about to head off to bead after finishing his drawings of ships when he heard someone knocking on his door. He frowned as he wondered who it was and slowly approached the door. While his hearing picked up only one person outside his door based on breathing and heart beat, he couldn't tell if it was an adult, a boy or a girl. Yugito has said that his sense will grow over time until he's able to identify a person by either their scent or even heart beat.

'Be nice to be able to do that now' Peito thought sarcasticly as he slowly opened the door and was greeted tot eh sight of his scowling friend Azula who didn't waste any time and pushing past him with a huff.

"No please come right in" Peito said dryly as he closed the door and turned to see Azula sitting on his bed and her arms crossed "What's wrong? Did You accidently sneeze drinking tea again and have snot come out of your nose like last time?"

Azula growled at the embarrassing memory "No…"

"Oh…" Peito said with a nod "Then what is it?"

"Father tried to convince the Fire Lord to make him crown prince sine Uncle Iroh has lost the siege of Ba Sing Se and has no children of his own anymore" Azula revealed.

"Wow…that's kind of mean" Peito said with a frown "I don't think your uncle will be too happy to hear that when he gets back"

Azula huffed "Like I care what my tea loving uncle likes or not"

Peito eyed the princess for a moment before speaking "Something tells me you have more to say"

Azula was auite for a moment before speaking "Grandfather in his rage told father that if he wants a chance to become the crown prince and eventually Fire Lord he would have to suffer as Uncle Iroh has…"

"He has to lose the most important battle of the war?" Peito guessed.

"No Peito, he had to experience the loss of a son…" Azula stated.

At that Peito's eye widened "But that means-"

"Yep" Azula nodded "He in a way told my father to kill my dum dum of a brother Zuko"

"Has he?" Peito asked feeling extremely bothered by this.

Azula shrugged "Don't know, after I told Zuko about it-"

"Why would you do that?" Peito asked with a narrowed gaze.

"Because Peito, I though Zuzu should at least be aware that father might end up killing him" Azula said as if it was the simplest thing in the world before her face darkened "But my…mother…didn't seem to apricate me telling Zuko and sent me off to my room"

"Then why are you in mine?" Peito asked with confusion.

"Because I know she won't bother to see if I actually went to my room, at least not any time soon. She'll be more focused on Zuzu anyways and probably my father" Azula said as she hopped off the bed.

"Shouldn't we do something though?" Peito asked as he watched Azula make her way around the room and examine it.

She's been in here before but she always noticed something new or missing when ever she does and tries to figure out what it is. She at first thought it was some sort of test by Peito but quickly realized that he'll throw things out if he accidently damages them with his nearly supernatural strength or finds something new to hold his interest.

' _He has a shorter attention span than Zuko does'_ Azula chuckled quietly to herself before turning towards Peito "Why? Has much as my father wants the throne I doubt he'll actually go through with my grandfather's suggestion"

"How sure are you?" Peito asked.

Azula shrugged "Not entirely but I doubt mother will let father get away with it. And once Uncle get's back he can always challenge father for the right to the throne, which I'm certain he'll win"

"So no one will die or anything like that?" Peito asked hopefully.

"Nope" Azula said as she saw a deck of cards and grabbed them and held the up "Come on, I know this game Yugito taught me that helps with your reflexes and memory"

Peito still looked a bit unsure before he finally concedes and joined Azula at the small table he had in his room where they spent the next several hours playing the card game, completely unaware of what was happening in the palace that night.

…

"I may have been too optimistic in my predictions last night" Azula whispered quietly as she, Peito, and Zuko attended their grandfather's funeral the next evening.

The official story was that Azulon died in his sleep which didn't sit right with Azula since the man looked pretty healthy for a guy who could barely see past thirty feet anymore. Then again the man had decades of experience in hiding his thoughts and weaknesses. For all she knew, he was in agony whenever they had dinner and was keeping it hidden.

"You think?" Peito whispered back as the Fire sages when on about Azulon's accomplishments in his life.

"Quite the both of you" Yugito said in a quiet but hard tone, not tearing her gaze away from her former lord's casket that was about to be burned. She was standing behind the soon to be crown princess and her other student dressed in an elaborate mourning gown.

"Sorry sifu" the two whispered quietly and returned their attention to the now lit casket while Ozai was being crowned Fire Lord by the head Sage, according to Azulon's last wish.

As Azula watched the event play out she turned towards Zuko with a questioning look "Zuzu, where's mother at?"

Zuko didn't say anything as he looked down with a crestfallen expression and tears beginning to pool in his eyes. Azula rolled her eyes in slight annoyance.

 _'Sure Zuko, don't bother telling me why the woman who birthed me didn't have the decency to at least say goodbye'_ Azula thought a little hurt that was quickly swallowed up by rage ' _To Koh's lair with her than…'_

She felt a small hand on her shoulder and she turned to see it was Peito's who was giving her a sort of knowing look. He may not know exactly what was bothering her but they've been friends long enough to get an idea.

Azula mouthed a silent thank you and returned her attention to the ceremony. She won't lie in that she felt comforted by Peito's presence or her teacher who slowly placed her own hand on Azula's other shoulder.

' _Who needs mother…I have all the family I need'_ Azula thought as she crushed the growing loathing for her Ursa and simply took in the knowledge that she and Zuko were now main contenders for the Burning throne…

* * *

And done.

Short chapter yeah but next chapter which will be longer will pick up a few years later, before Zuko's banishment as we watch Peito's and Azula's training under Yugito continue and how they go about their daily lives. I'm also going to have Peito sort of meet the spirit he possess and I may have Zuko's banishment in it or at least the chapter afterwards.

Also, this chapter I was trying to show that Azula won't feel to bothered by Ursa's leaving as she has a pretty good support system in the place of Peito and her teacher Yugito along with Mai and Ty Lee. Doesn't mean she's completely unaffected, she just won't brood over it as much. From her perspective that will be further expanded upon, Ursa never loved her much and so she grew to do the same in return.


	5. Chapter 5

Answers to reviewers' questions or statements:

 **nightmaster000** : Let's just say that Piteo's original path will undergo some changes now that Ozai to a great extent now has control over his future. Yeah Ursa wasn't winning any mother of the year awards any time soon and yeah she'll in some aspect get some karma going her way, granted she wasn't completely at fault with how Azula turned out but she could have done a lot more, she did for Zuko so why not Azula, even if she wasn't the daughter of the man she loved. Yes I'll be taking in some characters that are not from Marvel to be either Ghoralas or in the story in general, but they have to fit the theme or could exist in this world to some degree with a bit of tweaking here and there, like Wolverine, he could exist in some fashion or like Elektra.

 **Fenrir44** : I may have something like the Web of Life appear and mentioned but any of that's a long way off. No Peter/ Piteo won't be gaining any other abilities like venom, stingers and the like, he may be able to some extent commune with different spider species but that's it really.

 **gunman** : Peter will try to help Azula reconnect with her family but well it wasn't entirely her fault that the royal; family went to crap, Iroh, Zuko, Ursa and Ozai most of all played a part in it so it'll be so much of an uphill battle that Azula will just say to hell with it all.

 **DannyPhantom619** : She's based off that Yugito.

Disclaimer: I don't own any Marvel or Avatar the last airbender characters seen mentioned or used in this story

* * *

It's been over two years since Ozai had become Fire Lord and by proxy Azula and her brother Zuko became the crown princess and prince respectively. Oddly enough Iroh upon his return from his failed siege of Ba Sing Se didn't even so much as blink at the news that his younger brother was now Fire Lord, though he did seem saddened that his father had also passed and Ursa was gone.

Azula barely payed much attention to the return of her Uncle as Yugito was now her sole firebending teacher and was beginning to teach her katas far beyond her age range. Then again Azula was quickly proving to be a prodigy and even Yugito once joked that she may run out of things to teach her before her sixteenth birthday.

Piteo had also come a bit of a ways in the past two years as well. His physical strength has risen to the point he could lift a Badgermole if he tried which was almost ten tons or close to it, she doesn't know, she's not an animal study person. His speed and agility had also increased to the point that it was surpassed only by an Airbender's. Piteo was also new beginning to be instructed in the arts of war, something he is hesitant to do as it means that the Fire Lord was thinking of deploying him to the front lines soon…

This was something that eleven-year-old Azula was less than pleased to hear about and made it known when she met up with Piteo after her lessons with her history tutor.

"It isn't fair!" Azula growled out as she paced Piteo room with a scowl "Why does my father think you have to be sent to the front lines?"

Piteo who was lying on his bed and staring up at the ceiling shrugged "Probably because the Earth Kingdom is starting to deploy Ghoralas and they seem to have more than us now, aside from me and Yugito, there's like only two other sin our army and navy"

"But why is he sending you and not Yugito then? Not that I want her to go either but it makes sense. She's more powerful and a seasoned soldier despite her age. She's only twenty-six and already she's seen more combat than men twice her age and is even more decorated from it!" Azula nearly screamed.

"Has it occurred to you that maybe, just maybe…your father doesn't like me?" Piteo asked with a drawl as he formed a small web ball in his hands and began to throw in in the air and have it fall before catching it and repeating the process, having it fly a little higher each time.

Azula stopped in her pacing and gave Piteo a look of confusion "What makes you say that?"

"Well for one he's made it so that we can't hang out nearly half as much as we used to with mine and yours training" Piteo pointed out with a quirked brow.

Azula frowned at that and had to agree with him on this, her training sessions did seem to cut into her and Piteo's time and not just him, but also with Mai and Ty Lee. She let out a huff that emanated a small flame from her mouth and sat down next to Piteo on his bed.

"So now what are we supposed to do? If what my father says is true, that means you'll leave for the colonies in a year tops" Azula said a little sullenly.

Piteo nodded a little sadly "Yeah…"

The two stayed that way for several minutes before a low grumbling sound was heard from Piteo's stomach. The young Ghorala laughed while Azula made a slight face before her own stomach did something similar and blushed.

"Well looks like someone's hungry" Piteo teased and easily avoided a playful slap to the arm by the crown princess.

"Oh hush you before I burn your sketches'" Azula threatened half heartedly.

"What?" Piteo said with wide eyes before he rushed towards his small note book that held a vast away of sketches in it that quite a few of his engineer instructors have been intrigued by and rumor has it even War Minster Ching has taken an interest in some of Piteo's ideas "These are my prides and joys!"

"And that Piteo, is why every girl at the Royal Academy thinks your weird" Azula said dryly at her friend's antics that she's long come to tolerate and even privately enjoy.

She than hopped off his bed and made for the door "Come on, let's go find something to eat and have our meal in the gardens"

Piteo gently almost religiously placed his notebook down that had an image on it that looked like a heavily armored vehicle of some sort with spiked and treaded wheels on each side of it…

"Hey wait up!" Piteo yelled as he quickly ran after his friend and leaping over a startled servant as he chased down Azula.

…

Azula and Piteo had later found themselves sitting on a small bench overlooking the infamous turtle duck pond enjoying their meals in silence. Piteo was eating a small bag of fire flakes and Azula was eating a bowl of cherries.

"Hello Azula, hello Piteo" the voice of Iroh alerted the two to the man's presence.

The two eleven year old's turned to see the retired general approach them with a friendly smile.

"Hello uncle" Azula said before she went back to her cherries.

"Hevo unval Ivo" Piteo said with his mouth stuffed with fire flakes as he waved at the chuckling man.

"Careful Piteo, it's best to finish your food before addressing others" the Dragon of the West said.

Piteo swallowed the food in his mouth and gave the man a sheepish smile "Sorry Uncle Iroh"

"That's quite alright my boy" Iroh said as he waved off Piteo's apology "It took me some time to learn that particular skill myself, much to my mother and father's annoyance"

"Well considering your one of the greatest military leaders in the past three hundred years, I'm sure they were willing to overlook that" Azula said as she plucked out a seed from her teeth and flicked it into Piteo's face.

"Heeeeey!" Piteo whined at Azula who responded by sticking her tongue out at the still shorter buy.

Iroh chuckled at the two's antics "Well I'm sure me being an accomplished leader gave me some leeway with them…mostly. But enough bout my less than exciting youth, tell me, how have you two's day been?"

Azula shrugged, not really interested in speaking with her uncle but realized do not do so would be an even bigger hassle "Yugito is teaching me the drowsy flame"

Iroh's brows shot up in surprise at that "She is, interesting that's a rather advance from of firebending. Heh, even I had trouble learning that particular style in my youth"

"That difficult?" Piteo said with surprise.

"It's based loosely off air bending fighting styles, or what they constituted as fighting when they were still around" Azula said as she ate another cherry.

"Oh…" Piteo said with a frown before he shrugged and turned back to Iroh "I'm being taught basic unit battle tactics before I'm shipped off to the colonies for further instruction"

At that Iroh's face morphed into disbelief "My brother is planning to send you off into battle, already?"

"Sort of" Piteo said as he scratched his head "He wants me to learn how to fight better and stuff before I actually participate in any real fighting. Guest he doesn't want to lose me too soon right?"

Iroh's face went blank at this "Hmm…perhaps I should speak with my brother in regards to having you deploy this early to a war that'll hopefully be over long before you see any sort of battlefield"

"Much as I would appreciate that Uncle Iroh, you'll probably make things worse" Piteo said with a sigh "Sides, it sounds like I'll be deployed to the northern territories so, unless we open up a theater of war with the Water Tribes from the North Pole, I think I'll be fine"

"Let's hope so my boy" Iroh said with a distant look in his eye "War is no place for children…"

Azula finished her cherries before letting out a yawn and standing up "Well Piteo, I'll see you later. I'm going to go take a nap"

Piteo nodded "Okay, see you tomorrow at Yugito's lesson I guess"

Azula nodded as she gave her Uncle a brief nod before turning on her heel and walking away, leaving Piteo to tell Iroh about some of the thing's he's began to design and was thinking of bringing to the Engineers.

…

Piteo panted heavily as he tried to remain standing, which was a bit difficult due to the numerous burns on his legs and arms and chest, his top was all but charred to the point it was barely keeping on, his pants had a few burns on it and his hair was a little sizzled from a particularly close fire ball courtesy of his sparring patterner.

"Oh hush you" Azula said with a grin as she was in slightly better condition, she had a few bruises on her face for when her and Piteo's spar resorted to hand to hand combat, something she quickly realized was very ill advised and several globs of webbing in her hair. Her right pants leg was also torn off up to her thigh exposing a rather nasty bruise from a kick that she tried to block from Piteo earlier.

Yugito was watching the two with of them with a calculated expression "Again… Piteo your form is starting to drop, don't let it. Azula your anger was starting to get the better of you, remember your fire is fueled by other emotions other than anger, use them or you'll lose yourself and be just as effective in a fight as a sheet of paper"

"Yes sifu" the two said simultaneously as they circled each other again.

They've spent the last two hours sparing with each other and the training ring showed. Large scorch marks from Azula's now blue fire, something she and Yugito are both proud of, and numerous cracks and webs from Piteo.

Piteo lunged at Azula with blurring speeds, causing the princess to scorch the earth around her in an attempt to keep her friend at bay. Aside from his webs Piteo had very few long range offensive capabilities, something Azula took full advantage of given that while she was a descent fighter in her own right, she never took to it like her brother has with his swordsman classes and Piteo's lessons from Yugito.

Piteo stopped short of the azure flames and quickly leaped out of the way of a medium sized fireball from hitting him in the chest and shot several web lines at Azula's form only for her to use her firebending and blast herself out of the way and sent a fire arch from her foot towards Piteo who was too tired to dodge it and was sent flying back.

"GAH!" Piteo shouted in pain as he tried to roll with the hit and came up in time to have another fire ball erupt at his feet, burning him slightly and forcing him back.

Azula saw this and pressed her attack before Piteo leaped over one of her fire streams and shot a glob of web at her face, covering her eyes.

"Oh for the love-!" Azula shouted as she tried to remove the sticky substance before she felt herself lifted up and body slammed into the ground, knocking the wind out of her before she felt Piteo's hand around her throat.

"Surrender…"

Azula sopped struggling for a brief moment and Piteo thought she might actually give up when suddenly she used her body's slightly greater flexibility and kneed him in the face, nearly breaking his nose before she kick his feet out from under him and held a small flame up to his face.

Azula sent him a smirk even though her eyes were still covered "You surrender…"

Piteo scowled at her before he let out a sigh "Fine, I give up"

Azula nodded at this before she lifted the flame to her face and held it close enough to burn of the webbing enough for her to physically tear it off while Yugito approached them.

The older Ghorala glanced at her students with a hint of pride in her eyes "Congratulations, you've both past today's test. While you both have some things to work on I'm confident enough to say that you'll both go far…"

Azula frowned at what her teacher was saying "Sfiu…what's going on?"

"Yeah, your talking like you're not going to keep training us anymore" Piteo inputted.

"That's because I'm not" Yugito said with a sigh as she placed a hand on her hip "I'm being reassigned to the colonies to aid in the hunt for former Admiral Jeong Jeong

At this both children's eyes widened.

"But sifu…Jeong Jeong is one of the greatest firebending masters in the last hundred years with only people like Uncle Iroh and my father able to rival him" Azula said in concern.

"Yeah, he'll wipe the floor with you" Piteo commented.

Yugito's eye twitched "Your faith in me is astounding…with your two's support I feel as if Ba Sing Se will fall to my power"

"Sorry sifu, it's just Jeong Jeong wasn't made Admiral because he was firelord Azulon's cousin twice removed" Piteo said with worry.

Yugito nodded at this "Indeed but I'm confident that I'll be able to best him and if not…well I'll cross that bridge when I get to it"

Azul and Piteo looked at their teacher for a moment before Piteo spoke "So who will teach us?"

"I've contacted a friend of mine to aid you Piteo until your shipped out to the northern colonies in a few months, as for you Azula I've requested that Lo and Li aid you in further your training" Yugito said as she ran a hand through her hair.

Azula's eyes narrowed at Yugito "But Li and Lo aren't firebenders, how can they help?"

"They know enough about some of the more advanced moves I was hoping to teach you and with your own natural talent and intelligence I'm sure you'll do fine" Yugito said with complete confidence.

"If you're sure" Azula said with unease.

"More like fifty-fifty but meh what can I do aside from telling your father to shove it" Yugito said with a shrug as she turned and made her way towards the training room's door "Now lets get you two changed and head down to the markets and visit this nice bakery I discovered a few weeks ago"

Piteo and Azula quickly followed after the older woman, concluding that if this was going to be possibly their last time with their Sifu, they might as well make it count…

…

It was late in the evening long after Azula had gone to bed that Piteo made his way into his room and quickly made his way on to his bed, letting out a huff as his head hit the soft pillows and he felt himself sink into the mattress a bit.

He stared up at the ceiling in contemplation as he mentally counted the different spider webs he could make out before he felt something stir in his mind. Piteo's eyes winded at this as it felt like his sixth sense but different.

He sat up and scanned his room for what could be possibly causing it "What the heck…"

' **Small…young…not ready'** a deep baritone voice echoed in the room or more acutely in Piteo's head.

"AHHH!" Piteo jumped in surprise at the sudden voice speaking "W-Who's there?"

The voice didn't respond for another few seconds and when it did, it's voice caused Piteo to wince at it's volume.

' **A child…young and still naïve…you are not ready…'**

Piteo's brow furrowed as he tried to figure out if he was going crazy or not when suddenly a thought crossed his mind.

"Wait…are you…the spirit in me?"

Piteo was met with silence before he heard the faintest chuckles in his mind before it seemingly withdrew and left Piteo pondering just what in Agni's name happened.

...

* * *

And done.

So next chapter has a time skip of about a month and deals with Zuko's banishment and Piteo being sent to the colonies to begin training for the war leaving Azula on her own.


	6. Chapter 6

Answers to reviewers' questions or statements:

 **gunman** : Yeah they're pretty close buy any romance between the two won't begin until after Azula recruits him into helping hunt down the Avatar

 **duskrider** : The two will keep in contact and as for Ozai trying to keep that from happening, well yes and no. He's aware that he's not on Piteo's list of favorite people and he is aware that he's more likely to listen to Azula who's normally loyal to her father so instead of trying to keep the two apart he'll try something else to ensure that the boy falls in line with the age old method…his orders, through her voice

 **corbinskydragon1** : Yeah Piteo is kind of that friend Azula really needed when she was a kid, someone that actually likes being around her, talking to her and more or less keeps her from developing into a sociopath. As for how long until they see each other again after he leaves, it'll be right before she goes to arrest her Uncle and Zuko after the whole failed invasion of the North Pole

 **Kamencolin** : I've thought it, but even if I did I wouldn't know what to give him

Disclaimer: I don't own any Marvel or Avatar the Last Airbender characters seen, mentioned or used

* * *

"…Well that could have gone better" Azula said as she stared at Zuko's injured from in the infirmary. Just an hour ago he faced their father in an Agni Kai before hundreds of people.

Or more accurately he sort of fell to his knees and begged for mercy and forgiveness when he saw it was the Fire Lord, not some sub-par firebending General he'd be facing. As a result of refusing to face his father, and horribly losing, Zuko was officially banished and sentenced to hunt down the Avatar, someone who hasn't been seen in over a hundred years and this is assuming there's even an Avatar left and capture him.

All in all it was not a great time to be Zuko.

Azula let out a tired sigh as she stared at her brother's unconscious from "Why couldn't you just fight him Zuko? I know you're not the most powerful bender, spirts even the most talented, but you still could have put up some measure of a fight and maintain your honor and position of Crown Prince!"

Zuko didn't respond on account that the medication he was on to keep him sedated had effectively rendered him dead to the world for the next few hours.

She then began to pace around her brother's bed "I mean even if by some miracle you do find the Avatar in a world as large as ours, what then? You're going to fight him? Even if he's not an Airbender or even knows how to Air bend there's still a chance he knows three of the four bending arts where's you barely are good at one!"

She would have continued if it wasn't for Piteo entering the room with a worried expression on his face, having just returned to the capital an hour ago and just learned what happened "How is he?"

"What do you think?" Azula said in an annoyed tone as she gestured towards his unconscious form.

"You don't have to be mean" Piteo glared at the girl before he wandered over to Zuko's side and grimaced at the state of his face, even half bandaged he could make out the edges of the burns, it was obvious it was going to scar.

"I'm not being mean Piteo, I'm being brutally honest. Zuko had to face down the Fire Lord, the most powerful fire bender in the Nation next to my Uncle, hard as it is to believe and lost. He didn't even try to put up a fight!" Azula said with an eye roll.

"What? Why wouldn't he fight back?" Piteo asked with confusion.

"Who knows, but he probably assumed that our father would for some unknown reason show mercy…dumb-dumb" Azula mutated the last part out under her breath before she ran a hand through her hair "And now he's been banished, stripped of his title as crown prince and sentenced to hunt down the Avatar to restore his honor"

Piteo's eyes widened at this before he glanced worriedly at Zuko "Do you think he'll be able to pull it off?"

"Pull what off?" Azula asked with a frown.

"beating the Avatar, I mean he's supposed to be pretty powerful, right?" Piteo asked nervously.

At this Azula scoffed "Yes, the Avatar is powerful…when there is one, but he hasn't been seen in over a hundred years. Not since the death of Avatar Roku, and chances are the next Avatar born in the Air Nomads died when they were wiped out in the beginning of the war"

"But there's still a chance he's alive right? There's still a chance that Zuko could beat him…" Piteo said.

"Piteo the only way my brother stands a chance against the Avatar is if all of the Fire Nation's spirits and ancient gods offer their aid to him" Azula said with a shake of her head before glancing at Zuko "He should have fought back, then his punishment wouldn't have been as severe. That scar of his would have only been the worse…"

The two stood there in silence for several minutes before Azula let out a tired sigh and turned towards the door "Come on Piteo, Zuko will need his rest…Agni knows he won't be getting much when he sets out on father's wild goose chase"

Piteo sent Zuko a worried look before reluctantly following after Azula "Where are we going?"

"To the docks…" Azula said simply.

"Why?" Piteo asked.

"You'll see" Azula replied before she and her friend came to a stop as Iroh appeared. The princess gave her uncle a blank look "Uncle Iroh…"

"Princess…" the older man replied evenly even though his face showed exhaustion "How is your brother?"

"Fine, still sedated but the healers said he should be okay aside from the scar that father left on his face" Azula replied.

Iroh nodded at this before letting out a tired sigh before he saw Piteo there and gave the young man a nod "Ahh I didn't see you there, Piteo, I apologize"

"It's okay Uncle Iroh, it's been a long day for everyone" Piteo waved off the man's apology.

"Indeed…where are you two heading anyways?" Iroh asked curiously.

"To the docks" Piteo answered before Azula could say anything.

"Oh…" Iroh said with his eyes narrowing slightly "And why's that?"

"That is none of your business Uncle" Azula said stiffly before grabbing Piteo's arm and began to pull him past the man "Now if you excuse us, we'll be going"

"Of course…" Iroh said as she stepped aside and let the two past, keeping a watchful eye on them until they left his sight and he let out an aggravated sigh "I swear she's more like my mother than my brother…"

The famed Dragon of the West then turned and resumed his trek to Zuko's room.

…

It was several days later that Zuko stood at the docks with his Uncle, Azula, Piteo and thirty men that served with Iroh during his campaigns in the Earth Kingdom and even the ill-fated siege of Ba Sing Se…

The group stood before an old Fire Nation cruiser, much smaller compared to the larger and newer models used by the Navy these days and was in the process of having four Komodo Rhinos placed on board along with a moderate number of food, weapons and other supplies that Zuko and his crew will need for their quest.

She tried to get a more recent model but the Firelord stated that the navy couldn't afford to waste one cruiser on a banished prince, forcing Azula to settle with a decommissioned model.

"You didn't have to get this for me" Zuko said as he glanced at Azula with a surprised expression, having just been told by Piteo that his little sister had purchased this warship, outdated as it was, for him to use.

Azula shrugged "Contrary to popular belief Zuko, I'm not that heartless. Besides the sooner you get back on the off chance you do happen to somehow in Agni's name beat the Avatar, the sooner I can get back to my favorite thing in the whole wide world…"

"What's that?" Zuko asked.

"Tormenting you" Azula said with a smirk before it fell and she glanced at her small guard detail of Royal Firebenders that were assigned to her since becoming a crown Princess, the number having now doubled since she is now by right the sole heir to the throne now that Zuko is for the foreseeable future banished "My new guards aren't as fun sadly…"

"You always have Piteo" the ex-prince said with a nod towards the Ghorola who was in the middle of speaking to their Uncle who had just told his men to prepare to be underway.

"True, but he's not as fun to mess with as you are" Azula said with a dismissive wave.

Zuko quirked a brow at that before he gave her a nod "Whatever you say Azula…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" the princess asked with narrowed eyes.

"Nothing, nothing…" Zuko said, not meeting his sister's face.

"I can just take the ship back and leave you with a canoe" Azula threatened half heartedly.

"No offense… but I think that'll be an upgrade to this" Zuko said before he felt his Uncle pat him on the back.

"Now, now Zuko, your sister went to great expense to give you this gift in order to aid you in your quest" Iroh said as he stroked his beard and examined the vessel "And while we won't be winning any real naval victories, the ship's size should deter most pirates from attacking and large enough to fit us all comfortably"

"Yeah…I suppose" Zuko said as he glanced out towards the sea.

It was then Piteo spoke up "Well there is some benefits to this aside from taking out the greatest threat to our nation at the moment"

"Really and what's that?" Zuko asked with an interested look.

"You get to see the world, encounter different people and cultures we've only ever heard about at best, that has to count for something" Piteo pointed out.

At this Zuko smiled "Yeah, I guess it does"

The now exiled prince gave Azula a simple nod and a fist bump to Piteo before he then shouldered his pack and turned towards the ship "Come on Uncle, we have a hundred year old mystery to find and defeat"

Iroh nodded before glancing back at Piteo and Azula "Stay safe children and don't you worry. Prince Zuko and I will be back before you know it"

"Hopefully, I'm really gonna miss your tea" Piteo said with slumped shoulders that caused Iroh to chuckle and Azula to roll her eyes in exasperation at her friend's antics.

"Stay safe Uncle and please make sure Zuzu doesn't make too big of a fool of himself"

"Only if you promise to behave yourself" Iroh countered with a pointed look.

"We'll see" Azula said with a shrug before turning on her heel "Come Piteo…"

Piteo nodded before glancing back at the famed dragon of the West "I'll keep her in check"

At this Iroh laughed after slapping Piteo on the back good naturally before turning to leave "I'm sure you will my boy…"

…

Months passed since Prince Zuko was banished and things in the Royal Palace continued onwards as if nothing had ever happened. Azula still continued her studies, now beginning to learn how to generate lightning while Piteo was preparing for his own leaving to the Fire Nation colonies to continue his own training in preparation for the war…

Something that Azula was growing to distaste with every passing day.

"I still don't know why my father has to send you all the way to the colonies for further training. We have plenty of seasoned and qualified men and women here that can train and teach you without having to send you halfway across the world!" Azula shouted a she paced before Piteo in the gardens, the Ghorola having just told the princess he'll be leaving within the week.

"Yeah but the people I'll be learning under will have experienced combat more recently and have more up to date knowledge then some of the one's here" Piteo said with a sigh as he held his head in his hand while propping it up on his knee "Besides like I've said, your father doesn't like me and now has the perfect excuse to get rid of me"

Azula growled at that before she sat next to her friend in a huff and glared at the water with such intensity that Piteo genuinely thought that fire would sprout from her eyes and incinerate the pool. After several minutes of tense silence Azula let out a sigh and stood up.

"Come on…"

"Where we going?" Piteo asked curiously.

"Well since you'll be leaving in a few days, might as well have as much fun as we can" Azula said as the duo made their way into the palace.

"What do you have in mind?" Piteo asked.

At this Azula grinned "We're going to see Mai, with Ty Lee who knows where by now, she's the only other friend I have aside from you"

"Do you think she'll want to see us? I mean she hasn't been very social since Zuko was banished" Piteo said.

"Which is why we're going to visit her, can't have her end up dead before Zuko somehow by the grace of Agni gets back from his wild goose chase" Azula said.

"You know there's still a chance he'll find the Avatar" Piteo pointed out.

"Well even if he does, what then? Remember Piteo, this is the Avatar we're talking about, even if he knows at best only three of the elements because I don't see any Firebenders turning on us, he'll be someone that's Zuko's capability to handle unless Uncle Iroh teaches him everything he knows when it comes to firebending"

Piteo hummed at that before glancing at his friend "what about you?"

"What about me?" Azula frowned.

"Could you beat the Avatar?"

At this Azula laughed "Oh dear Piteo… of course I could, after all who better than me?"

"Your uncle?" Piteo asked which in turn earned a smack in the back of the head "Ow, what'd I say?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to do that" Azula said with a shrug before she broke into a laugh as Piteo and her exited the palace and made their way to Mai's home.

…

Several days later…

Piteo and Azula stood before the large vessel that would take Piteo and a host of other nobles and merchants to the Fire Nation colonies with less than cheery moods.

Azula's mood was dampened by the fact that her best friend was leaving for who knows how long and the possibility of him never coming back was too high for her liking, especially if or more accurately when he was deployed to the front lines.

Piteo was of a similar train of thought in that he was leaving his friend to fight in a war that he was more than comfortable sitting on the sidelines for, well unless the nation itself comes under attack then he'd fight but he'd rather not be actively sent out if it means being so far away from home.

"So I guess this is good bye for now" Piteo said as he turned towards Azula to see that her face was blank compared to his saddened expression.

"I suppose so" Azula nodded as she turned towards Piteo and held out her hand "Try not to get killed, without you I'll be only left with Mai and her personality is as pleasing as a bed of jagged glass and hot coals"

Piteo looked at her hand for a moment before he suddenly pulled the still taller girl into a near bone crushing hug that caused Azul to let out a surprised gasp. She tried to pry her more sentimental friend off before she eventually gave in and returned the hug.

After several moments Azula spoke "Piteo are you going to release me or not?"

At this Piteo blushed in embarrassment "Sorry…"

He released the girl who stumbled slightly before regaining her footing and straightening her clothes "Well I'll let it slide given the circumstances…"

Piteo nodded before he picked up his pack that had all of the things he possessed that he could take with him which wasn't much to begin with. But he was able to keep his sketches and a few books he's been reading and hoping to read that Azula thought he'd like or at least use to help pass the time.

As Piteo began to leave Azula suddenly spoke up "Piteo…"

The young Ghorola paused in his stride and looked to see Azula holding something out for him to take. The boy quirked a brow at the wrapped gift before taking it and testing it's weight "What is it?"

"Something to remember me by" the crown princess said with a small grin before she pulled Piteo into another hug "Don't do anything stupid, I'd rather not find out you got killed because you weren't watching where you were walking or something else ridiculous"

"I won't" Piteo said as he returned the much more heart filled hug before letting Azula go "I'll try to write as often as I can"

"Same…" Azula said with a nod before her face darkened slightly "Assuming of course father doesn't intercept them"

"I dint think he's that mean" Piteo said though he wouldn't be too surprised if the Fire Lord did try to.

"I guess we'll see" Azula said as she saw the ship was ready to leave "Better hurry, their about to cast off"

Piteo nodded and turned to leave before stopping again "Oh by the way, I uh left something for you in your room"

"Really, what is it?" Azula asked with curiosity.

"You'll see" Piteo said with a grin before hefting his bag over his shoulder and running towards the ship while Azula waved him off before letting out a tired sigh and turning to leave.

She glanced at her guards and gestured for them to follow her as they made their way to her Plaque.

Several hours later Azula had finally returned to her rooms in search of the gift that Piteo said he left her. She was greeted to the sight of a folded piece of paper resting on her pillow. She carefully reached down and unfolded the paper and smiled at what she saw and felt several tears beginning to gather in her eyes.

It was a strikingly detailed and accurate colored picture of her smiling as she was surrounded by several large dragons... and blue fire.

"Dum dum spider boy…"

…

* * *

And done

So next chapter will be a time skip of several years and pick up with Piteo under the command of Zhao and meeting up with Zuko after the return of the Avatar


	7. Chapter 7

Answer to reviewers questions or statements:

 **Arrankor** : Yeah Peter isn't as powerful as his mainstream counterpart, but that's because he's still a child. His powers are still growing and expanding. By the time he starts to encounter the Avatar directly is when we'll see how he stacks up against others. Aang and company are in for one hell of a fight when they meet which is a lot sooner than most might be expecting.

 **gunman** : I won't say Azula will be a hero but more of an Anti-hero, she'd help save the world but it'll be on her terms and only if she gains something out of it in some way. And yeah Azula's possibly tied for first place as hottest character in the series with the bounty hunter Jun but that whole she'll butcher you just for laughs can be a bit of a turn off. Nice to look at but try to approach and speak to her and chances are she'll completely destroy you verbally before putting you out of your misery with a fire blast to the head.

 **Great Saiyanman54** : Like the idea but I already have a suit design, still doesn't mean he can't wear this one later in the story in the aftermath of the Hundred Year war maybe.

 **cabrera1234** : Later on when Azula, Zuko, Ty Lee, Mai and Piteo are on Amber Island there will be a lemon between the two and more after the war ends and a few limes before then, the first being after the events of the battle at Omashu when Azula first meets the Avatar and co.

 **hjaanderson13** : Yeah, Peter will be joining Azula's team as her first recruit, partly because their friends but mainly for his abilities which will help in regards to taking on the Avatar.

Disclaimer: I don't own any Marvel or Avatar the Last airbender characters seen, mentioned or used

* * *

Piteo had to hold back a yawn as he slowly approached his quarters located in a small Fire Navy port, having just gotten off a long night of sentry duty. A sort of punishment for slightly disobeying Zhao's orders the other day during the siege of a small port city on the southern coast of the Earth Kingdom a week ago.

"Surprised he even still remembers that" Piteo groaned in exhaustion and annoyance at his apparent superior's memory and inability to let something go.

In the past few years he's grown from a small lanky kid to a fairly tall, well for his age, well-muscled individual, he still had some growing to do but at least he wasn't shorter than Azula anymore, at least he hoped not because really, he doubts his new found pride could take it!

He was currently dressed in a modified Heavy Armor set that the standard Fire Nation soldier was normally equipped with, Firebenders in particular.

First the shoulder pads and armored collar were removed and replaced with a small hood that hung off his back while the armor on the cuirass and tassets were thinner. His outfit also lacked the infamous abstract skull helmet that most heavy infantry wear, instead he had a less spikey helmet with the white face having the appearance of a sort of spider spirit that he was tossing back and forth with his gloved hands that had small black bracers on them. But perhaps the most notable feature of his armor was the large red spider symbol on the black cuirass with a small black Fire Nation insignia in the middle on it's slightly elongated thorax.

Piteo ran a gloved hand through his hair and was just about to enter his quarters, which really was nothing more than a simple tent that all Fire Nation troops that weren't officers and he's still too young to hold any real official rank despite his ties to the Royal Family. Still the material for his tent was far above the norm and it generally looked better than your standard grunt's lodgings.

"Hmm I wonder if I can write Azula and see if she can have me given an actual rank, like Captain or something. 'Captain Piteo' has a nice ring to it" Piteo chuckled tiredly to himself and prepared to enter his tent for some rest when he saw a ship approaching on the horizon. Piteo paused for a moment as he saw that the approaching warship while Fire Nation was much smaller than the typical warship that populates the fleet these days.

Piteo's eyes narrowed as he tried to focus in on the approaching ship, it was too far to make any real distinguishing marks but he had a sinking feeling he knew who it was. He glanced back at his quarters for a moment before shrugging.

"Meh, I can always sleep later" Piteo said as he slipped on his helm and rushed towards the docks to hopefully greet the older brother of his friend.

"And where are you off to… Piteo?" a gravelly voice spoke up, causing Piteo to pause and look to see the recently promoted Commander Zhao approaching him with two guards trailing behind, one flanking each side.

"Commander…" Piteo said with a slight bow, struggling to keep annoyance out of his voice and failing slightly.

Of all of the Commanding officers Piteo's served under since being sent to the colonies and a handful of battlefields, the Ghorola has come to dislike the arrogant commander the most, plus those side burns of his made Piteo want to cut them off, seriously how are they so pointed?

Zhao's eyes narrowed, picking up the slight annoyance in the young teen's tone before speaking "You didn't answer my question Piteo, where are you off to? I thought after a long night you'd be resting, not galloping to the docks as if the Fire Lord himself was preparing to dock"

Piteo remained silent for a moment as he mulled over wheatear he should tell the man before letting out a reluctant sigh "I believe I recognized Prince Zuko's ship approaching and wanted to see if it was him or not commander…"

Zhao nodded at this before glancing towards the ocean and saw the ship in question, to him it was a small speck but even he could tell it was smaller than any of his ships "Hmm perhaps it is, why don't I join you in greeting the wayward Prince. After all he so rarely ever make's port in any Fire Nation Naval yards, I'm curious to see how his search for the Avatar is going…"

"Maybe it's because he's technically not allowed and could be arrested for trespassing on sovereign Fire Nation territory" Piteo grumbled.

He wasn't wrong, the only reason Zuko's never been arrested in the past mainly had to do with the fact that his reasoning for being banished wasn't that great. Now had it been because he killed someone or something along those lines he'd be lucky to be only arrested.

Zhao narrowed his eyes at the man "I'll let your comments and attitude slide in light that you just spent all night awake and have yet to achieve any real rest… but continue to push me again and your next disciplinary action will be far more severe then simple sentry duty!"

"Yes sir" Piteo nodded as she followed his commander while thinking _'Wow I've actually met an even large jerk then the Fire Lord, that, that right there takes skill'_

…

Zuko had a scowl in his face as he descended his ship's ramp with his Uncle not far behind him after they docked in between two larger warships.

"Uncle I want the repairs made as quickly as possible" Zuko said as he let out a huff after glancing at the damage done by the Avatar "I don't want to stay too long and risk losing his trail"

Iroh quirked a brow at this "You mean the Avatar-"

Zuko immediately rounded on his uncle with annoyance and spoke in a low tone "Don't mention his name on these docks. Once word gets out he's alive, every firebender will be out looking for him and I don't want anyone getting in the way!"

"Getting in the way of what Prince Zuko?" the voice of Zhao interrupted the two's conversation.

Zuko and Iroh both looked to see the man approaching the group along with someone else that neither could recognize. He looked to be close to Zuko's height and a bit bulkier in terms of mass.

"Captain Zhao" Zuko said with his eyes narrowing at the man while he folded his arms across his chest.

At this Zhao smirked "It's commander now…" he then turned towards Zuko's uncle and gave a bow "And General Iroh, great hero of our nation"

At this Iroh grinned and returned the bow "Retired General…"

"The Fire Lord's bother and son are welcomed guests any time. What brings you to my harbor?" Zhao asked with interest.

At this Iroh gestured towards his and Zuko's vessel that looked like it's bow was nearly torn off "Our ship is being repaired"

Piteo silently examined the warship's damage with a calculated look ' _Now what could have done that…?'_

Zhao also studied the ship before glancing at the two with interest "That's quite a bit of damage"

"Yes… you wouldn't believe what happened" Zuko said before briefly glancing at Iroh before gesturing to Zhao "Uncle, tell commander Zhao what happened"

At this Iroh's eyes widened in slight surprise before he cleared his throat "Yes, I will do that. It was incredible…" he then leaned in towards Zuko "What did we crash or something?"

At this Zuko held back the urge to slap his forehead and give himself another very notable mark before speaking "Yes, right into… an Earth Kingdom ship"

At this Piteo glanced at the damage done to Zuko's ship with a skeptical look _'Earth Kingdom… the damage doesn't really add up, even if they did crash into them. I mean our ships aren't that stealthy and I don't see any damage towards the bridge, a favorite target of Earth Kingdom warships…'_

Zhao seemed to be of a similar mindset but seemed to be willing to play along, for now "Really, you must regail me with all of the thrilling details"

He then leaned in towards Zuko with a smirk "Join me for a drink?"

Zuko held the man's gaze for a moment before answering as he turned to leave "Sorry but we have to go-"

"Prince Zuko…" Iroh began as he placed a hand on the banished royal's shoulder to stop him "Show commander Zhao your respect"

The famed Dragon of the West then turned towards the taller man "We would be honored to join you. Do you have any Jen Sang tea? It's my favorite"

At this Zuko growled in annoyance before he felt someone place a hand on his shoulder. He looked to see that it was the hooded helmet wearing man that accompanied Zhao who was now walking with his uncle towards his quarters.

"Easy their Zuko, can't have you burning the commander to a crisp even if he does deserve it" the man said with a very familiar voice if not slightly muffled and deeper.

"…Piteo?" Zuko said in surprise as the Ghorala removed his helmet or at least the face mask portion of it and flashed the teen a grin.

"Yo!"

Zuko smirked at the younger teen as he clasped his arm in greeting, holding back a wince as it felt like he was being held by a Platypus Bear "What are you doing here?"

"Transferred to Zhao's command for the foreseeable future… please kill me now!" Piteo sighed as the two followed after Iroh and Zhao.

"Heard that you single handily fought an entire Regiment of Earth Kingdom soldiers on your own and won a few months ago" Zuko commented on some of Piteo's feats that he's heard of over the past year in his travels.

"Regiment?" Piteo said with a quirked brow "It was only a platoon! And even then they weren't in the best fighting shape to be even called that"

"Yes, well fighting a single exhausted Platoon doesn't sound as heroic or impressive so full well armed Regiment it is" Zuko said as he remembered that the Fire Lord and his advisors would use propaganda to help booster morale for both the populace and it's army.

' _Almost a hundred years and it still works'_ Zuko thought with grim amusement.

"Guess that make's sense" Piteo said with a shrug before he remembered something "Oh by the way what did you mean earlier when you told Unlce Iroh that you didn't want anyone getting in your way?"

"You heard that?" Zuko asked with slight worry, he's well aware of Piteo's enhanced senses, he just hoped that he was within range after his uncle mentioned the Avatar.

"Some of it, still kind of resisting the urge to collapse right here and sleep to be honest" Piteo said with a yawn.

"Then, why don't you?" Zukoa asked with a frown "Get some rest I mean…"

"Wanted to say hi first, see how you and Uncle Iroh were doing so I can let Azula know when I write to her later" Piteo shrugged as he stepped in a small pulled of melted snow and mud.

"Your writing to my sister?" Zuko asked with slight surprise.

Piteo glanced at Zuko with curiosity "Yeah she's my friend, why wouldn't I?"

Zuko shrugged "It's just, she didn't strike me as the type that'd write often is all"

"Well, have you tried?" Piteo scowled.

"Would she have written back?" Zuko countered with his own scowl of annoyance.

Piteo opened his mouth to argue before thinking it over for a few moments before reaching a conclusion "…Good point. Don't worry though, I'll let her know you said hi"

"Hurray" Zuko said dryly.

It was then Piteo winced as he heard a deep baritone voice echo in his mind that he's been starting to hear more and more these past few days.

' _ **He has returned… he knows…'**_ the voice said cryptically before it seemed to fade away.

Zuko noticed Piteo's expression as they made their way closer to Zhao's tent "Something wrong?"

"What? Uh no, just tired is all. I think I'll head back and get some rest" Piteo said as he turned to leave "Hope I'll see you again before you leave…"

Zuko watched the young man go for a moment before nodding "Yeah…"

He then turned to went to catch up with Iroh and Zhao while Piteo returned to his tent.

…

Several minutes later Piteo was sitting in his tent, rubbing his head in both exhaustion and annoyance.

' _I swear every time this spirit thing talks to me, it gives me a headache that lasts for hours'_ Piteo thought before he collapsed on to his bed roll and stared up at his tent's ceiling in deep thought _'And what the hell did he mean by 'He has returned' and that 'he knows'…?'_

Piteo's musing was met with silence as he laid there and felt his eye lids begin to grow heavy when suddenly he picked up movement outside his tent. Piteo's eyes' narrowed as he slowly reached for the knife he had in his belt and his muscles tensed, ready to move at a moment's notice before he heard the person's voice and quickly felt himself relax as it belonged to a sort of friend but mainly acquaintance he's made since being placed under Zhao's command.

"Piteo, you awake?" the voice asked in a low tone.

"I am now" Piteo said with evident sarcasm as he poked his head out to see the form of Li, a young man who was a few years older than Piteo and had just been conscripted into the Fire Nation's military and was shipped out here a few months ago from one of it's colonies.

Li was clad in the typical heavy armor of the Fire Nation's soldiers with his helmet slung under his arm. Li gave Piteo a sheepish smile "Sorry…"

"It's fine, what do you want?" Piteo asked as he made his way out of the tent and focused his gaze on the slightly taller man with some interest but mostly annoyance and exhaustion.

"I uh just came to tell you that in a few days your being reassigned to another garrison" Li said as he scratched the back of his head.

Piteo quirked a brow at this "Oh really?"

Li nodded "Yeah, apparently there's been reports of the Earth Kingdom using a Ghorola of their own and their attacking some of the POW camps we have up north. They want you to find this guy and take him out I guess or at the very least dissuade him from attacking again"

Piteo frowned at this before he sighed "Fantastic…"

Since being dragged into this war, completely against his will mind you, he has yet to face any of the few Ghorola's the Earth Kingdom has. Most from what he's heard have been pulled back to defend Ba Sing Se, the last major stronghold of the Earth Kingdom, well aside from Omashu. Piteo was about to comment about being deployed to guard a bunch of prison camps when he suddenly heard a low growl in his mind, casuing him to wince,t his didn't escape Li's notice he looked on in concern.

"You alright?"

Piteo nodded as he rubbed his head "Yeah, just tired is all…"

Li seemed unconvinced but decided to drop it, for now "Alright, well if you need me I'll be down by the docks, some of the guys need help getting the Rhinos off the ships"

"Have fun" Piteo chuckled as he watched his friend sigh in exasperation as he slid on his helmet and make his way down to some of the crusiers docked at the port.

Piteo then turned and made his way back inside his tent and laid down with a huff and stared up at his tent's ceiling with a frown. His mind drifting to his apparent reassignment, he wasn't too sad about leaving Zhao's command, but leaving it just to fight another Ghorola that's likely stronger and more experienced then him? Yeah, no…

Piteo shook his head at this before running a hand across his face as he let out a tired yawn "Sometimes I really hate this war…"

He then slowly drifted off into a deep sleep, in fact it was so deep that he slept well into the next day and much to his chagrin, missed Prince Zuko and Zhao's Agni Kai which ended with Zhao getting his butt handed to him.

And the apparent return of the Avatar…

…

* * *

And done.

Next chapter, Piteo settles into his new post, reads a letter from Azula, meets some of the locals, both good and not so good, tires and fails to find out more about his spirit and meets an interesting trio of travelers…


	8. Chapter 8

answers to reviewers questions or statements:

 **nightmaster000** : To a degree it is, less Zhao being... Zhao.

 **Spawn Hades** : It'll be very... Azula.

 **gunman** : No, it's someone else that may or may not be added to Piteo and Azula's relationship that I'm thinking of expanding to include Ty Lee at some point. She'll act as a sort of not so serious but serious antagonist, least up to the events of the Second season when Azula begins her hunt for the Avatar and the fall of the Earth Kingdom.

 **MsKurumi** : Yeah, it'll be a sort of running joke for a lot of people, them letting the other know that the other is interested and it goes completely over their heads.

 **Hivedragon** : Yeah, Piteo's influenece has made Azula nicer... but it can alos make her far darker and viscious, under certain circumstances.

 **rmarcano321** : Their relationship at the moment can be described as best freinds but it's not overtly obvious, just that subtle they've been together for years and they happen to know one another pretty well. Not romantic, not yet, but still close.

Disclaimer: I don't own any Marvel or Avatar the Last Airbender characters seen, mentioned or used.

* * *

Piteo let out a loud yawn as he sat upon a saddle, attached to what appeared to be a equally tired Komodo Rhino. The large beast let out a loud huff as it carried it's rider to the small mining village that the unit he was assigned to occupied. The village itself wasn't anything grand or note worthy, at least as far as Piteo believed. The populace was docile enough and there has been little issue aside from the initial revolt led by a few Earthbenders when the Fire Nation took control several years.

 _'I'm almost wishing I can be sent back to Zhao, if nothing else to elevate the boredom'_ Piteo thought with a sigh as he eared the gates to the small village.

His mount let out another snort as Piteo brought it to a halt outside the gate where a small stable was. Already two other Komodo Rhinos were there, being watched by a lone Fire Nation sentry. Piteo gave the man a brief nod as he climbed off the large reptilian like creature and took the reins and began to tie them to the stump the others were attached to.

"Hey Ming, how's things been?" Piteo said as he glanced at the older man who looked to be in his mid to late twenties.

"Quiet sir" Ming replied with a simple shrug "The Sergeant is collecting the taxes now"

"I do not envy his job" Piteo said with a snort as he patted his mount on the head "Be good for Ming Arekkusu"

The Komodo Rhino made another grunt as Piteo chuckled and made his way into the village. The settlement itself wasn't very large, Piteo could walk from one end to the other in just a handful of minutes, less than two if he were to ride his Komodo Rhino. Piteo slowly made his way towards the center of the small village where the local shop was located, hoping that it received a shipment of fire flakes like he put in for a few days ago.

 _'Please be there, please be there_!' Piteo thought as he approached the shop, barely noticing that the door and windows were closed.

Finding it a little strange, Piteo's pace slowed as he approached the door and very carefully reached for the handle. He didn't feel or sense any danger and everyone around him seemed calm and unconcern, so the possibility it was some sort of trap was low.

Just as Piteo pushed open the door, he felt a chill crawl up his spine as a faint echo of a voice flowed through his mind.

 ** _'Careful...'_**

Piteo blinked as he pushed the door opened and stepped into the shop and saw that several people aside from it's owner were already inside.

There was the woman's son, Haru who was busy talking to another teen that appeared to be around his age and holding some sort of fruit in his hand, a girl with the same skin pigmentation as the boy and shared a few similar physical features, hinting at some sort of blood relation eating a bowl of cherries and finally a shorter teen that was dressed in orange and yellow clothes that he coudlnt place leaning against a barrel trying to look inconspicuous.

Piteo's gaze lingered on the younger boy as he felt another... 'stirring', from within his very being that caused him to almost shiver.

 _'The heck?_ ' Piteo thought before he mentally shrugged and just went with it ' _Eh, I don't feel in danger, so I'm sure it's nothing...hopefully...'_

Piteo approached the counter and gave the elderly looking woman a small nod as he removed his face mask and gave her a friendly grin "Good morning"

The woman looked a little unnerved by Piteo before she gave him a small timid nod "Hello..."

"So, anything new today?" Piteo said as he looked around and took in the clothes of the three new people "Aside from them?"

"N-No, I'm afraid not" the woman said with a grimace.

Piteo nodded at this "Ah well, I guess I'll just take a bag of roasted-"

He was cut off as the door opened to reveal the Fire Nation Sergeant that Piteo saw earlier. The man noticed Piteo and gave him a quick nod as he turned his attention to the woman who was looking at him with a scowl of annoyance.

"What do you want?" she demanded with anger "I already paid you this week!"

"The tax just doubled" the Sergeant replied with a smirk.

"It has, since when?" Piteo spoke up, dragging the two's attention to him as he eyed the sergeant with a frown.

"Today..." the man said.

"Really?" Piteo said with narrowed eyes.

"Yes" the Sergeant responded with a nod.

"So, your saying if I head back and ask the Captain, he'll confirm this?" Piteo said with his eyes growing a little colder as the man began to sweat ever so slightly.

"W-Well... he-"

"Sergeant, either beat it before I decide to beat you" Piteo said with anger in his voice, even though his expression was unusually calm and collected.

The man paled as he nodded and turned on his heel and quickly exited the small shop. Piteo sighed as he glanced at the woman "Sorry for that"

"No, thank you" the woman said with a sigh of relief as her son came and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder "I didn't have any money left to spare"

Piteo hummed at this "I'll speak to Captain when I get back to the compound later. He's pretty reasonable, I'm sure he can lower the taxes here for a bit, let you all recover"

Piteo also could hint that the growing taxes and the apparent extortion of the troops on the locals may insight a revolt, something the Captain would rather avoid. He struck the young teen as a man that would like as little drama as possible for his deployment.

The woman blinked at this before she nodded "T-Thank you sir"

"It's fine" Piteo said with a shrug as he glanced at the kid in orange and yellow again as he felt another 'stirring' inside him.

The boy met Piteo's gaze with stormy gray eyes and held one another's gaze. A sort of tension suddenly entered the air as the two stared at one another with unblinking gazes. The boy and girl in blue looked uneasy as their eyes darted back and forth between Piteo and their brightly colored friend. Finally after it felt the tension was growing and thickening, Piteo hummed as he pointed to the hat the shorter kid had on "Why are you wearing a hat indoors?"

The teen blinked at this and briefly panicked before he pointed at Piteo's helmet mask hybrid "Why are you wearing a helmet mask thing indoors?"

"..."

"..."

"...Touché" Piteo said with a snort as he slid his face mask back on and gave the mshop owner a small nod "I'll be seeing you around madam. Let me know if those men have been hitting up the other shops for 'double tax collecting'. I want to nip this in the butt before it gets worse"

The woman nodded as Piteo made for the door "I will, and thank you again"

Piteo responded with a raised hand over his shoulder as he left the shop and made to head back to the gates and the stables to fetch his mount... and walked right into someone around his height, but distinctly female.

"Oi, watch wh-..." Piteo started before he blinked at the young girl, barely a year or two older than him at best ' _Whoa...'_

To say she was beautiful would be like him saying that Azula has control issues.

Biggest. Understatement. Ever.

She was around his height, maybe a little shorter and possessed snow white hair, something he's never seen before, bright green eyes that looked almost like glowing emeralds in the sun. She was clad in a black and green tunic with black leather boots that looked like they've been used for a long time if the old worn out look was anything to go by. Piteo blinked as he realized he was staring a little too long and cleared his throat.

"Oh, um, sorry, I uh didn't see you there- not that your unnoticeable or anything, in fact your very hard to not notice, no wait- What I mean is to say-"

She cut him off with a giggle, her green eyes shining with amusement "It's fine, accidents happen"

Piteo nodded at this "Exactly, I mean I'm just one big walking accident"

The girl gave him an odd but amused look at this.

"...That sounded better in my head" Piteo said after his brain caught up with his mouth again.

The girl smirked as she patted the young Ghorola on the top of the head "It's fine, I'm used to silly boys like yourself getting all tongue tied around me. I'm told I have the affect on them"

"I can only imagine..." Piteo said with a growing blush under his mask as the girl giggled again before she turned on her heel "Well I'll be seeing you around handsome, don't be a stranger"

"Yeah..." Piteo said absent mindedly as he watched the girl walk away.

He stood there for several minutes before he finally regained his bearings and was about to head back to the gates before he noticed something off by his person.

His coin pouch was missing!

"Wait, the hell?" Piteo said as he felt around for the pouch "Where's my money!?"

His question was met with the faint laughter that he swore belonged to the girl he just met.

...

Several hours, a long Komodo rhino ride and a half hour long conversation with his unit's commanding officer later Piteo let out a wariy sigh as he entered his tent with a single letter in his hands. The letter was given to him by the Captain after Piteo informed the man of his Sergeant's apparent racketeering beat in the mining village. Safe to say, the man was going to get torn a new one based on the less than pleased expression on the Captain's face.

"Note to self, never screw with a superior's desires to have a quest deployment or post" Piteo chuckled as he lit a small candle by his bed roll before he collapsed on to it and looked at the letter more closely now that he was in private.

It bared the royal seal of the Fire Nation and given that the current Fire Lord dislikes Piteo and the crown Prince was in exile with the Fire Lord's elder brother, it was quick to deduce that the letter was from Azula. Piteo could practically hear his friend's voice echoing off the paper as she wrote it, probably because she knows that Piteo's seemingly supernatural senses will somehow hear it.

 _'Just what I want to fall asleep to every night... Azula's voice_ ' Piteo thought with a sigh of dread ' _Let the nightmares commence!'_

The young brunette cracked open the seal and carefully unfolded the note and was greeted to a staggering letter that stretched from one end of the paper to the other, written as small as humanly possible and still readable, least to Piteo's keen eye sight.

"By the spirits Azula, did you decide to forgo sending several letters and just squeezed them into one?" Piteo said with a combination of exasperation and amusement as he began to read the letter as the faint sounds of night life in the compound echoed through the night.

 _Piteo,_

 _I have recieved word of some of your accomplishments since being placed under Commander Zhao. I must say I'm impressed, it must have truly been a sight to behold watching you talk and annoy seaeoned Earth Kingdom warriors into submission. I can scarecly imagine the pain they must have felt they were under to hear you drabble on for hours on end, your topics changing on a whim and growing even more ludicrous as they went on. I shall remember this once I take command of our nation and I require a seasoned tortuer to lead the Inquisition._

Piteo's eyes twitched at this as he read on, reading several other things that Azula will imploy when she's crowned the Ninth Fire Lady of the Fire Nation.

 _'Ozai isn't even dead and she's already making plans for her rule... never let it be said she isn't a long term planner'_ Piteo thought with a shake of his head, a small grin on his face as he read more of her letter, the next section detailing her recent activities at the Academy.

 _You remember Yuujin Tonpuson yes? The boy that used to bully you when you attended the academy yes? Well he has recently asked me to accompany him to the ball we are to have in honor of our graduation-_

Piteo's eyes narrowed and his mood darkened as he stared at the words on the letter. The cup he had in his hand cracked and shattered as his grip on it tightened to the point it formed a fist, the shards priciling his paln and causing it to bleed. Piteo never liked Yuujin, mainly because the boy made Piteo's life at the Academy hell. Spreading rumors about him, pubibcly embreassing him and some occassions taking his food and smearing it on to Piteo's face.

Azula, who was well aware of these actions, was never able to help Piteo has much as she would have liked given that said events happened during periods were Azula was in class and vice versa. Plus her father would never tolerate her 'fighting a weakling's battle'.

- _Which is why after I had him on his knees crying, begging like a patheic wretch, I decided to grant him a small bit of mercy, something that I very vividly reminded him, he never gave you._

"Wait what?" Piteo said with wide eyes as he re-read where he left off in Azula's letter back to the point he began to pay attetion again.

As it turned out, Azula didnt go to the ball with Yuujin, like Piteo thought for some reason, and instead proceded to beat, embaress and humiliate the boy in front of the whole school for his bullying of Piteo.

"She beat and tormented him for me?" Piteo said with wide eyes before he whined "And of course I'm on the other end of the world when that happens, that's just great!"

He really hated his luck sometimes.

Piteo shook his head at this as he read the rest of the letter and noticed that apparently Mai's family had moved to the colonies, leaving Azula alone in the capital. Piteo didn't know what to think of that, but the idea of Azula being alone with Ozai set subtle alarms off in Piteo's mind. Her also saw her mention that Yugito had been promoted to Colonel, the first woman in over a decade to achieve such a rank, after her actions against a elite Earthbending unit. Piteo wasn't too surprised by this, having received a letter from his former master just a few days ago detailing said achievement.

' _Though her descriptions were far less flashy and heroic compared to the official report'_ Piteo thought with a grim snort as he read more of Azula's letter, blissfully unaware of what the next several days will entail for him...

...

"Uh sir?"

"What?" Piteo said with a tired yawn as he and a small squad of soldiers patrolled near the mines that first brought the Fire Nation to the nearby small town five years ago.

"are you well?" one of the soldiers asked as he noticed Piteo's less than cheerful mood and sluggish movements.

"Just tired" Piteo responded with a yawn "Didn't sleep much last night"

"why?" one of the other soldiers asked with a frown.

"I was busy reading a letter from a friend and decided to write back before I got sidetracked" Piteo said with another loud yawn "Then I made the mistake of staying up early to deliver the letter to our postal service before I was told to go on this patrol with you all"

"Do you require us to stop so you can rest sir?" the leader of the squad asked with a frown "It'd be no bother sir"

"I'm fine" Piteo said with a wave of his hand as they turned a hill and saw two people, both garbed in blue clothing made of material and styled in a manner that Piteo thought was more at home in the Water Tribes than the Earth Kingdom walk and bump right into one another.

"Get out of my way pipsqueak!" the boy said as he pointed towards the girl with a glare.

The girl gasped at this "How dare you call me pipsqueak you, you giant eared creatine"

"To be fair, he does have large ears" Piteo said as he pointed towards the boy.

"Yes, very large sir" one of the soldiers agreed as they watched the scene unfold, unsure of what to do other than watch and see where it went.

"What did you call me?" the boy asked in outrage.

"A giant eared creatine" the girl said before she gestured towards his head "Look at those things, do herds of animals use them for shade?"

"You better back off" the boy said as he stepped closer towards the girl "seriously, back off"

"I will not back off" the girl said with a glare "I bet elephants get together and make fun of how large your ears are!"

"Man, she's not holding back is she?" Piteo said with another yawn as the boy glared at the girl angrily.

"That's it, your going down!"

"I'll show you who's going down" the girl said as she assumed a fighting stance "Earthbending style"

Piteo and the soldiers watched as the girl just stood there, a awkward silence permeating through the air.

"I feel like something should have happened" Piteo said with confusion as he glanced at the others "What about you guys?"

"Felt like something should have" one of the soldiers said with a nod as he tapped his chin thoughtfully.

The girl looked nervous before she growled out "I said, earthbending style!"

Piteo's eyes, and that of the soldiers behind him, all widened at the sight of a good sized boulder rising from the ground in front of the girl

"By the spirits..." Piteo said as he raised a shaking hand and pointed towards the sight that caught his and the men's attention "That Lemur... it can Earthbend!"

It sat under the rock, it's small hands raided to the air as it looked ready to heave the rock towards Piteo and his men.

 _ **'...Your an idiot...'**_

"No you idiots, it's the girl!" the boy said after he loudly slapped his forehead before pointing towards the girl beside him "She's the earthbender!"

The soliders blinked at this, their sense of awe and shock fading as reasoning and logic returned to them. Piteo on the other hand...

"That's exactly what the Lemur wants us to think, that it can't Earthbend and it's the girl!" Piteo said as he pointed towards the Lemur as the rock fell behind it "Well you ain't fooling me you little abomination. What's worse, your framing a innocent girl!"

"...He is serious?" the boy said as he and the girl he was sighting with shared a look.

"Honestly... we don't know" one of the soliders behind Piteo said as he rubbed the back of his head in confusion "He's... like this at times"

"Hasn't been getting much sleep lately" another supplied as Piteo was now before the lemur in a blur of movement that took the blue cladded boy and girl back in surprise.

"Alright buddy, how'd you do it?" Piteo said as he crouched in front of the lemur "Did you con a Badgermole into teaching you Earthbending, or are you possesed by some dark spirit?"

The lemur looked up at Peter wuth a confused expression before it made a series of burbiling sounds as it's ears moved back and forth before it swiped at Piteo's mask, curiosity burning in it's eyes.

"Uh, sir?" one of the Fire Nation soliders spoke up after clearing his throat as he gestured towards the boy and girl "What uh, what shall we do with thr Earthbender?"

Piteo didnt respond as he held the Lemur's gaze before he spoke in a low voice "I'll be watching you fuzzy. You may fool everyone else, but not me. I'm on to your game"

The Lemur responded by quirking it's head to the side in confusion as Piteo stood up and turned towards the girl with a small frown under his mask "I'll do everything I can to make sure your proven innocent in this misunderstanding"

"Uhhh?" the girl sounded, unsure how to take that as two of the Fire Nation soldiers made to arrest her "Thank you?"

Piteo nodded at her as he turned towards the boy "And then there's you..."

The boy paled a little ads he gave Piteo a sheepish grin "Well... umm..."

"If I discover your in league with the Earthbending Lemur that get's some sort of thrill of framing innocent women and locked up, I'll find you..." Piteo trailed off as he glared at the slightly older teen "Count on it"

"Uhhh, okay?" the boy said, seriously, what the heck was with this Fire Nation goon?

Piteo nodded at the boy before he gestured towards the squad and their new prisinoer to follow him "Come on guys, we've got a long walk ahead of us... and a ferry to catch"

"Yes sir" one of the soldiers said with a nod as he pushed the girl forward after her hands were tied.

If Piteo was in more of his right mind at the time, he would have had the girl carried so she wouldnt still be in contact with the ground, but as one of his soldier's said earleir, he hasn't had much sleep the past few days. He also would have noticed that they were the same boy and girl he saw in the shop just yesterday morning.

Little things like that tend to fly over your head after barely getting any sleep.

 _'Still, it'll make a interesting thing to write to Azula. I bet she's going to flip when she hears about the Earthbending Lemur!'_ Piteo thought with a tired grin before he yawned again.

He'll get to writing the new letter after he took a quick nap on the ferry to the offshore coal rig, maybe.

...

* * *

And done.

Next chapter, Piteo has to deal with capturing a troublesome thief and a prision revolt!


	9. Chapter 9

answers to reviewers questions or statements:

 **nightmaster000** : It'll be the first of many. That 'Earthbending Lemur' will not be forgotten by Piteo.

 **gunman** : Yeah, that was them but since Piteo dosent know their names yet, they're just guy and girl to him. Piteo will be running into Zuko and Iroh again soon.

Disclaimer: I don't own any Marvel or Avatar the Last Airbender characters seen, mentioned or used.

* * *

Katara will admit that pretending to be a Earthbender just so she could get caught and taken to wherever it is that Haru was taken may have not been the best course of action. In fact, there was no real guarantee that the Fire Nation would have arrested her, if they wanted, they may very well could have tried to kill her simply because she was a Earthbender. Granted, that seemed unlikely unless she tried to attack them first but with the Fire Nation, you could never be too sure.

"Don't worry..." the man, boy really, the one dressed in odd clothing that led the patrol that arreste dher, said as he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder "I'll speak to the warden when we get to the rig. I wont have you slaving away while I work on having you released for this... misunderstanding"

Thought Katara will admit, had she know her plan would involve this guy, who seems utterly convinced Momo was a earthbender, she may have just said to hell with it and storm the rig with Aang and Sokka.

"Uh, thank you" Katara said with a uneasy smile, trying to ignore how the boy's grip fell like it belonged to a Polar Bear Dog.

The boy nodded as he went back to watching the passing landscape as the cart they were in slowly made it's way down to the nearby harbor. Katara took this time to better study the Fire Nation teen.

It was obvious he was around her or Sokka's age, and far different from any other Fire Nation soldier they've encountered since leaving the South Pole. For one, his attire while bared close similarity to the standard Fire Nation uniform, at least on the Army's side, there were a few alterations to it.

Another thing she and Sokka noticed was his speed.

 _'He's almost if not as fast as Aang when he moved earlier_ ' Katara thought as her mind drifted back to earlier when he tried to 'interrogate' Momo ' _Aang did say something was different about him, something familiar but still different'_

Katara briefly entertained the idea that he may have been a Airbender, but after what she and the others saw at the Southern Air Temple... she doubts it.

"So, I got to ask" Piteo said as his eyes kept scanning the crows of people "What's with the getup?"

"I beg your pardon?" Katar said with a raised brow.

"Your clothes" Piteo said as he turned towards Katara and nodded towards her clothes, covered by a old, brown tunic "They look more Water Tribe than Earth Kingdom"

Katar blinked at this before she cleared her throat and found the floor of the cart oddly fascinating "Oh, I'm just... one of my parents was Water Tribe and I sort of grew to love the culture"

Piteo hummed at this "North or South? Tribe I mean, which one is it?"

"S-South..." Katara said, growing a little uneasy with the questions being asked.

She didn't think he was doing it because he was suspicious of her, likely it was because he may have been genuinely curious.

Piteo nodded as he leaned back in his seat "I wasn't aware that Tribesmen went this far North, or South if they came from the North. The Water Tribe seems happy where their at"

Katara didn't respond as they neared the pier that led to the ship they'd be taking to the off shore rig. Piteo cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders as the cart's driver slapped the reins on the Ostrich Horse to move faster before the young Ghorala saw a flash of white in one of the crowds they passed.

"Stop the cart!" Piteo said as he suddenly stood before he hopped off the cart, causing Katara and the few other Fire Nation soldiers, both on the cart and following it, to stare in shock as Piteo rushed into the crowd.

"Uh, what was that about?" the driver said as he looked back with a confused expression on his face.

One of the soldiers following the cart on foot simply shrugged "No idea"

...

"Hey, get back here!" Piteo shouted as he chased after the figure with white hair.

The figure seemed to pick up speed as they ducked, weaved and leaped over every obstacle that got in their way. People, carts, stands, animals, none of it seemed to slow the person down as Piteo struggled to keep up. Finally he saw the figure turn down a alley and Piteo followed closely after before he raised his hand and shot several web lines towards the person.

"Wh- hey!" the figure, a girl, shouted as Piteo yanked on the webs hard as they connected to the girl's body, yanking her off her feet and to the ground.

Piteo quickly covered the distance between the two and grabbed her by the arms and held her against the wall.

"Oh... well someone's rather bold" the girl teased as she recognized Piteo from yesterday "Second meeting and already you've got your hands on me"

"You stole my coin pouch" Piteo said with narrow eyes.

"Did I?" she asked with a innocent expression that did not match the mischievous amusement in her alluring green eyes "Are you sure it was me?"

"Yes" Piteo said simply as he held the girl against the wall as he ran a hand over her body, causing her to giggle as he searched for his coin pouch.

"Mmm, I love a man that knows what he wants and just takes it" the girl said as she looked at Piteo with a look torn between amusement and lust "And in public, somewhere that we can get caught, so naughty!"

Piteo couldn't fight the blush growing under his mask as he found that she didn't have his coin pouch on her still "S-Shut up!"

"Make me" the girl whispered before she giggled again.

"Where's my money?" Piteo asked with a frown.

"I spent it" the girl said with a casual shrug.

"What?" Piteo said with wide eyes "I had eighty gold pieces in there!"

"I know, it's why I took it in the first place" the girl snickered as she looked into Piteo's masked eyes "Well that and your Fire Nation"

Piteo growled at her as he released her "I have half a mind to throw you in that cart back there and take you to the rig too!"

"And I'll be back in this town, or in another by morning" the girl winked "I'm sly as a cat"

Piteo hummed at this "But do you have as many lives?"

"Who knows" the girl shrugged as she leaned against the wall and crossed her arms and grinned at the Ghorala. her eyes just barely ignoring the small coin pouch hanging on his uniform's belt, this one more secured compared to yesterday.

 _'Heh, adorable_ ' she thought.

"I should have you arrested for theft" Piteo said with narrowed eyes.

"You could, and even if it wasn't true, it'd be me a helpless Earth Kingdom girl against you, a brave and noble Fire Nation Solider who may have taken my rejection of his advancements a little too hard and decided to get back at me by having me locked up" the girl said with a giggle as Piteo gaped at her.

"That's not even close to-"

"And people will eat it up like hungry Koi fish" the girl smiled "And something tells me you don't want to create too much discontent here. I mean, as far as territories go, this one is fairly stable and free of resistance from the Earth Kingdom… wouldn't want to risk that now, would we? Unless... that's what you want?"

Piteo stared at the girl with wide eyes, she was, it was like... it was like dealing with a green eyed, white haired Azula!

No matter how this played out, even if she lost, she'd still make sure he got screwed as much as possible.

"...I hate you" Piteo said after several minutes of complete and total silence between the two.

"They all say that at first handsome, but you'll learn to love me soon enough" the girl teased with a wink "They always do"

"Well not me" Piteo said with conviction before he moved to restrain the girl before she suddenly leaned in and gave his mask, right where his lips would have been, and gave it a long kiss.

Piteo's eyes widened before the girl suddenly leaped over his head, using his cranium as a spring board and grabbed a ledge to one of the buildings adjacent to the alley and leaped over the edge and out of sight. Piteo stood there, stalk still as he stared at the ground with shock, his mind still trying to process what in the name of Agni just happened.

She kissed him... well she kissed his mask, but the implication was still the same. He wasn't sure how long he was there before his hearing picked up the distant sound of the Fire Nation ferry blowing it's horn, a ten minute warning that it was about to leave. The young Ghorala blinked and made to run back to the pier before he noticed something odd...

He couldn't hear the sounds of the silver pieces in his coin pouch rustling.

"On please no..." Piteo said as he reached down to where his replacement coin pouch was, only to find it gone!

 **"SON OF A BITCH!"**

...

"Earthbenders, it is my pleasure to welcome you aboard my modest shipyard" the Warden said as he approached the line of prisoners. He came a stop a few meter from them and gave them a bemused smirk "I, am your Warden, and I'd like not to think of you as prisoners, but as honored guests and you'll come to see me as your humble and caring host"

"Who will not hesitate to beat, starve, burn, isolate or drown if you step out of line or even so much as blink at him wrong" Piteo supplied from his place beside the line "Oh also, don't ask him how the wife is. She left him for the Warden of the Boiling Rock, which if half of what I heard is anything to go by, it was-"

"As I was saying" the warden interrupted Piteo with a growl, his eyes eyeing Piteo with anger before he turned his attention towards the prisoners "You will succeed her as long as you simply-"

One of the prisoners suddenly sneezed, causing the Warden to grit as teeth as Piteo glanced at him.

"Wow, I've heard being allergic to Ostrich Horse crap but I never thought I'd see a guy affected by it" Piteo said with a snicker "Then again, I'm getting a itch in my nose too"

The Warden didn't seem to find this funny as he shot a stream of fire at the prisoner's feet, causing him to jump back in fear while the rest of the line did their best to avoid the flames. One of the prisoners knocked the girl into Piteo who quickly grabbed and steadied her less she fall over. The Warden cut the flames off as he glared at the man for his interruption.

"What mind of guest dishonors his host by interrupting him?!" the Warden growled before his arm cut through the air, heat shimmering off the limb "Taking him below. One week in solitary will improve his manners"

Piteo frowned at this before he glanced towards the man as he released the girl "Really? Your gonna be that petty? About a sneeze? What's net, you have someone flogged because they blinked at you at the wrong moment"

The Warden glared at Piteo "My rules are simple, treat me with respect and we'll get along famously"

"You know that respect goes both ways, correct?" Piteo said with a raised brow.

"Indeed it does" the warden said "And yet... I've received none from you since you've been sent here"

"Oi, I haven't webbed your boots to the ceiling, I say that's me showing you plenty of respect. Trust me, you'd know if I didn't like you when you start finding your things webbed to walls and ceilings" Piteo quipped.

The Warden's eyes narrowed to slits "How respectful of you"

"See, we're already at the joking phase of our hostile working relationship" Piteo teased.

The Warden eyed Piteo with contempt before he glanced at the guards "Taken them to the general holding, I shall be along in a moment"

The guards nodded before they began to herd the prisoners away towards where the rest were kept. Piteo glanced at the young girl for a moment before his eyes found the Warden's again.

"Have you been able to find the Ghorala that's been harassing our forces these past few weeks?" the Warden demanded.

"Not y-" Piteo began before he was cut off.

"And why is that?!" the Warden demanded with a yell as he was suddenly in Piteo's face "For days now you've claimed to be getting closer to locating this pest and yet we've yet to see any progress!"

"Well..." Piteo said, taking a second to wipe some of the spit off his mask before he continued "If it was gonna be easy and quick, then you'd have found it and dealt with it by now instead of calling me in to hunt it down like a Polar Dog"

The Warden's face grew red with anger and Piteo swore he saw a vein beginning to pulse on the man's head. The only reason he hasn't been struck down was for three simple reasons that Piteo knows that if he keeps pushing, wont mean jack with the Warden.

The first was because of his connection to the Royal family, while Fire Lord Ozai may not care about Piteo's well being, at least beyond if he can preform his duties or not, it was the Crown Princess Azula's wrath and influence that stayed most people's hands. The second was Piteo didn't technically fall under the Warden's command and ergo wasn't able to punish him in any real way except talk to the Ghorala's Captain, who Piteo knew could care less what Piteo did so long as it didn't cause too much trouble for him, which this won't. And the third was simply because for all the Warden's bluster, he won't risk picking a fight with Piteo on the off chance that the Ghorala retaliates.

 _'Not that I would, at least beyond making his life difficult_ ' Piteo thought with a hidden grin ' _Web trip wires and nets hidden at every door and in every hall can get real annoying after a second or third time_ '

The Warden glared at Piteo for another moment before he turned on his heel and marched after the prisioners "Just find the damn Ghorala!"

"Aye, aye Warden" Piteo said with a mock salute as he watched the Warden stomp away before he remembered something "Oi, Warden-"

"WHAT!?" the man said as he turned towards Piteo with a scowl.

"The young girl" Piteo nodded in direction the prisoners were taken "Go easy on her, she got framed by... something unexpected, and until I can clear it over with my Captain, she's gonna be here for a few days"

The Warden's scowl, to Piteo's bemusement, darkened even further as he spoke through gritted teeth "If she behaves, she'll receive no trouble from me and she'll be as you left her when you return"

Piteo and the Warden stared at one another for several tense seconds before he nodded and turned on his heel and made his way to the ship "That's fair"

...

The next day, just pass noon, Piteo had returned to the rig with a document from his Captain that gave him permission to have the girl released and returned to the mainland. It wasn't a difficult thing to acquire, Piteo barely reached his explanation about the Earthbending Lemur before the man quickly reached into a drawer, removed the sheet, signed it and gave it to Piteo and told him to beat it.

"Still think he should've heard what I had to say about the Lemur" Piteo muttered as he followed the Warden through the rig with several soldiers acting as both escorts and guards.

Piteo wasn't sure what the man was talking about, Piteo tuned out his voice about three words into their trek before a few words caught his attention in regards to what his men saw last night.

"So wait, was it a flying Bison or a flying Buffalo?" Piteo asked with a frown as he followed the Warden to the main holding area where the rest of the prisoners were being held.

"I do not know nor do I care" the warden said with a frown as they entered the holding area "But I will deal with it. Now get the dammed girl off my rig and-"

He stopped as he and Piteo saw in the middle of the holding several of his guards surrounding two people, one of them that Piteo recognized as the boy from the other day armed with a boomerang and... the girl that Piteo came to free beside him.

"Oh come on..." Piteo said with a sigh as he sped ahead of the Warden and made his presence known to both the girl and boy "I leave you alone for one day and already your trying to incite a riot. You know this won't make it any easier to get you out of here right?"

Katara and the boy both looked at Piteo in slight shock before they all heard and felt a rumbling from within the rig. Piteo frowned as he felt a tingling at the base of his skull and took several steps back as suddenly a large amount of coal suddenly shot out from the vent he was standing next to. The coal flew a good ten to twelve meters into the air before it came crashing back down around the vent... and before the large group of Earthbending prisioners.

 _'Okay, whose idea was it to have the coal vents inside the rock manipulating prisoners' holding area?'_ Piteo thought as a uneasy feeling settled in his chest.

While the prisoners have been... calm, for the lack of a better term, that was by and large because they've been unable mount a proper resistance against the Guards so far from the mainland, far from the Earth they could Bend to fight back.

Well that and because the Warden's strict, harsh punishments helped too.

Before anyone could say or do anything a figure suddenly leaped out from the vent and landed on the pile of coal. They were covered in soot from head to toe but even then, everybody could see the clothes he wore were orange and yellow and possessed a bald head... with a blue arrow tattoo just barely visible under the soot. But that's not what caught Piteo's attention, no, it was the smaller white furred figure that suddenly flew out of nowhere and landed on the young boy's shoulder.

"EARTHBENDING LEMUR!" Piteo shouted as he pointed towards the flying mammal "I freakin knew it!"

"He's really being serious about thta, isn't he?" the boy with the boomerang said with a look of disbelief as Katara quickly climbed to the top of the pile of coal next to the boy as he fell into a coughing fit.

"Here's your chance Earthbenders!" Katara shouted towards the prisoners before she reached down and held up a chunk of coal "Take it. Your fate is in your own hands!"

"Except the guy in the back who has no arms" Piteo said as he pointed to the double amputee "But he can still earthbend with his feet sooo... fate in his own feet maybe?"

His remark was met with silence, causing Piteo to frown "Yeesh, tough crowd"

Suddenly, the Warden began to laugh, causing Piteo to eye him oddly "It wasn't that funny"

"Ah, foolish girl" the Warden said as he stared at Katara in amusement "You thought a few inspiration words and some coal would change these people? Look at these blank, hopeless, faces. Their spirits were broken a long time ago!"

The Warden smirked as he and Piteo watched Katara's resolve slowly begin to falter "Oh, but you still believe in them... how sweet. Their a waste of your energy little girl. You, failed"

And with that, he turned on his heel and began to make his way back towards the main complex of the rig, casting a brief glance at Piteo as he went "You can take her now"

And with that, he kept walking as his guards parted ways for him and made to follow before a small chunk of coal raced passed Piteo's head and hit the Warden square in the back of the head. Piteo blinked at this before he turned to see who done it.

"It was the Lemur wasn't?"

"...There's something not right with him" the with the boomerang said with a frown while Katara rolled her eyes.

"Like your any better" she muttered as the warden glared at the group of prisoners with pure fury in his eyes.

"Well, it looks like your gonna be busy here Warden, so I'll just take the girl and we'll le-" Piteo began before he was interrupted by the Warden with a glare.

"Stay out of this, boy!" the Warden snapped.

His eyes searched the crowd before he saw the culprit, a young boy that was brought in a few days agao, with three small coal pieces hovering over his hand while he glared at the Warden. The Firebending commander growled as he shot a large blast of fire towards the teen. The boy flinch before suddenly a large chunk of the coal moved and formed a thick wall in front of the teen, absorbing the fire blast.

Piteo looked to see who it was and saw it was a large powerfully built man with white hair and a white beard. There were a few physical similarities between the two, leading Piteo to conclude they were related, perhaps father and son.

 _'Whom both can Earthbend... oh boy'_ Piteo thought with dread as the Warden and several more firebenders sent blasts of fire towards the man, his son, and the rest of the prisoners before all the coal moved and was raised into the air and formed into a wall.

"For the Earth kingdom, attack!" the old man yelled before he and the others sent the wall of coal towards the guards.

Piteo leaped out of the way of the flying coal and blasts of fire that was sent back towards the prisoners. Piteo's height and speed caused the boy with the arrow tattoos with stare in complete shock, trying to understand what he was looking at. The young Ghorala landed in a crouch as he saw the prisoners' attack the various Firebenders with the coal, quickly overpowering the men quickly. Piteo made to attack before he noticed the bald kid and the two water tribe dressed people attack as well, one using his boomerang, the girl using, to his mild surprise water and the boy himself-

"Airbending..." Piteo said quietly as he felt something inside him 'stir' again.

 _ **"Finally... idiot..."**_

Piteo's brow twitched as he shot several web bullets towards the airbender, having a sinking suspicion on who it was. Only one person on earth, far as Piteo knew, could Air bend...

The boy saw the approaching projectiles and quickly blasted them out of the air with several blasts of air. The boy's gray eyes then settled on Piteo and the world seemed to grind to a slow, muffled halt as they stared one another down.

One's eyes filled with curiosity, the other with unease...

Then, the world seemed to resume it's normal pace and the almost deafening sound of the battle shocked the two back into action. Piteo sent several more web bullets and a few web lines towards the airbender who responded with gusts of wind before he struck his hand out and sent a powerful gust of air towards the Ghorala.

Piteo dodged them easily enough, his speed and agility wasn't too hampered by the battle going on but Piteo found it hard to respond with any attacks of his own given that his abilities were greatly hampered by the powerful gusts of air made by the body. Just as he was about to web a pile of coal into a small ball and throw it at the boy, several chunks of coal flew towards him and forced the young Fire Nation noble to weave through the flying coal projectiles and head for cover.

He tired to head for the wall so he could scale up it and gain some sort of advantage, but found himself cut off as the girl he came here to release and the boy with the boomerang cut him off.

"Well... crap" Piteo said as he felt a tinging at the base of his spine again.

Piteo blinked before he turned to see he was surrounded by several Earthbenders, each with a good sized chunk of floating coal aimed right at him, one of the chunks being condensed down into a spear.

As Piteo found himself surrounded, he idly noticed the Warden and several of his guards knocked down before they were lifted on a large chunk of coal and slowly moved over the rig's railings and fence until they were a good few meters away from the edge and over the ocean.

"No, please I can't swim!" the Warden shouted as the coal platform began to come apart.

"Don't worry..." the Earthbender with white haired said with a smirk "I hear cowards can float"

And with that, he gave up control and allowed the coal, and its Firebending inhabitants, to fall towards the sea below.

"Uhh, if I surrender, do I have to get thrown overboard too or can I just stay up here?" Piteo said as he felt the tingling at the base of his skull increase as several of the men and women gave Piteo evil grins that while evil looking, weren't actually evil.

If anything, it's the same look Azula gave him before she promptly 'punished him for being a idiot'.

' _I hate my life'_ Piteo thought with a defeated sigh as more and more Earthbenders surrounded him while the rest made for the boats.

...

"What... happened?" Piteo's Captain said as he arrived at the rig with a platoon of men and women not even an hour after the Earthbenders and the Avatar had left with several small ships.

"Uhhh, would you believe me if I said there was a Earthbending Lemur too?" Piteo said from his small cage of coal.

The Captain blinked at Piteo before he pinched the ridge of his nose "Piteo, why are you still in there?"

Piteo looked around at his makeshift cage before he suddenly gripped two of the 'bars' and with little effort, tore them apart to make a hole big enough to climb through.

"Honestly, it was surprisingly comfortable" Piteo said as he began to brush the soot off his uniform.

The Captain's eyes narrowed slightly at this as the Warden, drenched to the bone, stomped towards them with a seething glare on his face.

"Y-You... you!" he said as he pointed towards Piteo, steam rolling off his body.

"Freeing myself from my prison while reporting to my commanding officer what happened" Piteo said with a innocent shrug before he snickered "What about you? Enjoy your bath?"

"That's enough Piteo" the Captain said with a faint smirk as he glanced at the Warden "So, any reason why your men were overpowered and allowed the Earthbenders to escape?"

"They... they..." the Warden tried to think of a adequate answer before he sighed "We underestimated them..."

"Indeed" the Captain said with a frown as he kicked a piece of coal away.

"And your precious Ghorala was of little to any help at all!" the Warden said as he pointed towards Piteo.

"Come again?" Piteo said with a frown.

"You could have easily stopped them, used your unnatural strength to tear them apart or your webs to restrain them so my men could deal with them" the Warden growled.

"I could have, maybe yeah" Piteo said before he grinned at the Warden "But your explicit orders were to, and I quote 'Stay out of this, boy'. So I did exactly that, stayed out of it, for the most part. Plus, as per the orders of the Fire Lord, who passed said orders down to the regional commander, General Lee, my orders are to hunt down the Ghorala harassing our people, all other orders and directives come second. Like say helping maintain order on a coal rig in the middle of the ocean"

"You still should have done something more you spineless cur!" the Warden yelled at Piteo.

"Hey, it was either that or get thrown into the water with you too and the water's too cold for my liking to take a swim in" Piteo said with a simple shrug "Besides, I sincerely doubt the Earthbenders will cause any problems for the local garrison, least for now"

"What do you mean?" the Warden said with a confused frown before it was Piteo's Captain spoke with a bored tone.

"There are currently two hundred and forty bored soldiers within a mile of the village and mines... looking for any excuse to burn, stab, club, or simply beat to death" the man said as he rubbed his head to fight against the growing headache "Plus, the men and women that escaped, not all of them will be ready or eager to start a fight when they have the oppitunity to return and see their families after so many years... not now at least"

"Plenty of time to call in any re-enforcements we need and plan out how to deal with them" Piteo said with a nod before he glanced at the Captain "Right?"

"If I'm going to raze that village to the ground, and butcher as many people as I think it'll take to get them under control, might as well have them enjoy what they have now" the Captain said as he turned to leave before he grinned darkly "Make it all the sweeter for me when they lose it all... for good"

Piteo blinked at the officer as he walked away _'Man... and here I thought the guy was bored and kinda whimpy. Nope, turns out he's a closet sociopath'_

The sooner Piteo is stationed somewhere else, or the sooner the Ghorala he's hunting leaves for somewhere else for him to chase her to, the better. Piteo grunted at this before he saw a ship approaching the rig. His eyes narrowed slightly as he took in it's appearance, a small Fire Nation warship. And given the model he see's has been decommissioned and obsolete for years now, and clear signs of recent repairs and modifications, it could only mean-

"Zuko, what's he doing here?" Piteo thought with a frown as he made his way down to the dock to meet the exiled Prince.

Partly to see what the teen was doing here... and partly to make sure that he wasn't arrested by soldiers that thought Zuko should be arrested for stepping foot on 'Sovereign territory' regardless of his reasons. With the mood the Warden was in now, Piteo wouldn't put it past the man to try such a thing.

...

"So, they were here?" Zuko said as his eyes scanned the damage from the revolt after his ship docked only a few minutes ago "The Avatar and his friends?"

"Yeah" Piteo said with a yawn as he sat on a large pile of coal "The girl in their group, the Waterbender you mentioned was framed by a earthbending Lemur and then proceeded to free the captured Earthbenders we had here for... whatever reason"

Zuko glanced back at Piteo with a quirked brow "...Earthbending Lemur?"

"I know what I saw" Piteo said with a scowl "It raised a rock and everything. It even bended that coal out for the prisoners to use!"

Zuko blinked at this before he nodded slowly "Riiiight..."

"I have witnesses" Piteo declared as Zuko shook his head.

' _She has interesting tastes my sister..._ ' Zuko thought with a smirk before he noticed something on the ground.

It was a necklace...

Zuko kneeled down and picked the small piece of jewelry up and examined it with a critical eye. The design and color and even the material it was made of screamed Water Tribe, and the boy that was with the Avatar didn't strike the Prince as the type to wear such a thing. So what left-

"The girl" Zuko muttered before he gazed out towards the setting sun.

It appears that luck may be on his side.

Piteo glanced down at the necklace for a moment before he frowned at the exiled prince.

"Blue is so not your color Zuko"

...

* * *

And done.

Next chapter, Azula receives a letter from Piteo and partakes in her first offical War Council...


	10. Chapter 10

answers to reviewers questions or statements:

 **rmarcano321** : He asked her out because he thought he had a shot with her. Yes it's her. Ming was the random Fire Nation solider, Arekkusu is the name of Piteo's Komodo Rhino, someone we will be seeing again soon.

 **Lilthug** : She most defientetly will.

 **coki13566** : We'll be seeing Aang's reaction to Piteo when I get to the events of the Blue Spirit and they have a legit sit down and actually talk to one another.

 **Anonymous** : No, Yugito isn't with the White Lotus. I'll try to keep the pairings canon in some cases, other's I'm not so sure.

Disclaimer: I don't own any Marvel or Avatar the Last airbender characters seen, mentioned or used.

* * *

Firebenders rise with the sun.

It was a simple fact of life in the Fire Nation, something so ingrained to the very culture of their society that saying it meant nothing and much at the same time.

Firebenders rose with the sun... but Azula, was most certainly not a morning person.

"Good morning Prince-" a servant said as he entered the room of the crown princess of the Fire Nation only for a small ball of blue fire to shoot pass his head, close enough to slightly singe his hair, and into the hall outside where it was quickly extinguished by a nearby Royal Firebending guard.

"There is nothing good about waking up at this Agni forsaken time!" Azula snapped from her bed, her eyes glaring up at the ceiling with rage.

Try as she might, the firebending prodigy could not fall asleep after awakening, not until the sun had long set... in sixteen plus hours, give or take.

 _'I swear when I pass on and meet with Agni, the dragons and all other beings associated with Fire, I'm going to demand why all firebenders have to wake up almost at the exact moment the damn sun comes out!'_ Azula mentally seethed as she climbed out from her bed and stood on the cool wooden floor.

She glanced towards the door to see the srevant still standing there, his face pale witth fear. Azula's eyes narrowed as she stared at the man while reaching for her robe to cover her nightgown. Her face darkened as she tied the sash to her robe and turned fully towards the man as she placed her hands on her hips.

"If your done gawking at me, would you prepare my bath? And fetch my handmaidians?" Azula said in a cool collected tone that barely hid the annoyance she was feeling right now.

"O-Of course Princess" the man bowed as he quickly rushed to Azula's restroom and began to seething the tub up for her use... leaving the door still wide open for anyone to peek inside.

Azula's frown darkened as one of the two Royal Firebenders that stood outside her door at all times looked in. She didn't need to see his face to know he had a scowl under his helmet. His name was Han, once one of her later Grandfather's personal guards until he was reassigned to guard Azula not long after Zuko was banished and Piteo left for the Earth Kingdom.

While he lacked raw power compared to many of the other Royal guards, he made up for it in his sheer skill and vicious tenacity.

"Princess, shall we-"

"No" Azula cut him off with a heavy sigh "He's the new one, yes?"

"Yes" Han said with a nod as the other Firebender peeked inside and began to speak.

"But not so new as to know that you like visitors to knock first and if they are a man or boy, they shall advert their gaze when you emerge from your bed..."

Han's colleague was Khan, a few years younger than Han himself but no less dangerous. Arguably the most powerful member of the Royal Guard and coincidently enough, one of it's newest members, having only just been transferred to the Royal Guard, on recommendation from Colonel Yugito, just a few months ago.

Azula nodded at this as she could hear the water starting to run "Hmm, you are correct Khan. See to it that he's reprimanded... painfully I might add"

Khan nodded at this "Of course, but not enough so that he can't resume his duties as your new... head servant"

Azula nodded, a grin on her face as she made her way to the bathroom to kick the servant out so she could wash herself. She made a mental note to reward Khan later, perhaps make a reservation for him at the Scarlet Flame, a high end restaurant not far from the Palace to take his mother to.

' _I'm sure Khan's old bat of a mother would love it'_ Azula thought in amusement as she made a gesture for the servant to leave her bath alone and to excuse himself.

The man readily agreed and left the Princess to undress herself and slowly enter the warm water. Azula sighed in content as she slowly lowered herself in the water until only her head remained above the water. She heard a faint yelp of pain, this one belonging to the servant, followed by two voices, one Han and the other Khan, threatening to do worse after the servant returns with her handmaidens.

Azula smirked as she slowly slipped under the water...

...

Over the years Azula has met many people, both peasant and noble alike that envied her position as a member of the Royal Family and crown heir to the Burning Throne. And after every meeting, Azula was further convinced that just about everyone that wasn't her or considered a close friend of her's, was a complete idiot.

 _'If they knew half the mundane things I have to do as Princess, Crown Princess at that, they wouldn't be so envious_ ' Azula thought as she was dressed in a rather beautiful red dress with golden embroidery ' _Like dressing in these ridiculous dresses!'_

Azula normally preferred the black gold medium styled armor suited for members of the Royal family then the light silky garments that many ladies and girls of the court wore. But, her father insisted on having breakfast with her this morning and she couldn't just up and appear dressed as if ready for war.

If there was one thing that Ozai shared with his long gone wife in regards to raising Azula, it was that he preferred her to act more like a actual girl than a boy. Azula sometimes wondered it was because her father secretly wanted Azula to be a boy and hated being reminded that it wasn't a boy he gave birth to that was a prodigy, like Iroh did with Lu Ten.

' _Not my fault I wasn't born with a penis'_ Azula thought with a eye roll as the last of her dresses' straps were tied by her handmaidens and she looked herself in the mirror as one of the servants went to fetch some light makeup, another thing she hated to wear.

"Make sure you put the makeup on lightly this time" Azula said as she observed her reflection "I don't want it getting in my eyes later when I decide to train"

"Yes Princess" the handmaiden said with a small nod as she lightly applied the Koh around Azula's eyes.

Azula normally was capable of such a thing herself, it was one of the many classes that her mother had her partake in, but since she was meeting with the Fire Lord, she had to look her best.

'Also doesn't hurt that I'm awful at applying makeup in a presentable manner for court' Azula thought which in then caused her to remember when Piteo learned of this.

 _"Wait, the great and all powerful and knowing Azula can't put makeup on right?" Piteo said with a loud overly dramatic gasp "By the light of Agni, how can you survive with such an imperfection?!"_

Looking back at it now, it was admittedly amusing to a degree... even more so when Azula remembered how she responded by saying she'd practice her makeup applying skills on him to improve.

' _After I had Ty Lee practice her new Chi blocking skills on him to paralyze his arms and legs and tied him down of course_ ' Azula thought with a silent laugh as her handmaidens finished their work and one placed black shoes at Azula's feet to step into.

The Princess stepped into he shoes without a word and immediately began to walk towards the doors.

"Have my armor ready to be donned when I return" Azula said as she pushed open her doors, careful not to damage her nails and nodded to Kahn and Han's still forms.

She didn't need to look back to know her handmaidens were already rushing to prepare for her return and one of them had already went to fetch a few Royal Guards to spar with her later.

"Princess?" Han said as he and Kahn followed Azula to the dining room where her father had reserved for them to eat in.

"Yes?" Azula said, ignoring that her guard had broken Royal protocol by speaking without permission.

After all that he and Khan have done for her, she has given them quite a bit of leeway in hoe they address her. She wouldn't call them friends, not like Mai, Ty Lee and Piteo, but close enough.

"We have received word that several days ago, the Avatar led a revolt at a small coal rig in along the southwestern shores of the Earth Kingdom" Han said as he shared a brief look with Khan before he continued "Lord Piteo was present at the time"

Azula hummed at this, careful to keep her face blank and her tone even "And how did our Ghorala stand up to the might of the Avatar?"

"He... the results were unconfirmed, the fight ended before it could escalate beyond a few strikes at the other" Han revealed.

"Pity..." Azula said with the barest hints of a frown.

She would have liked to know just how much her friend stacked up against the Airbending child. If for nothing else to measure her own possible chances against him should- when she confronted the Nomad. She wasn't foolish to think that her brother Zuko of all people could bring him down and if he did happen to... perhaps the Avatar wasn't that great as a threat as her father and most of his advisors believe.

 _'Then again, the Avatar is said to be a child, around twelve years old_ ' Azula thought as she made her way through the halls of the Palace _'But if half of what I read about Air Nomads is correct, they only mark their people with that blue arrowed tattoo of theirs if they prove to be a fairly competent Airbender, even a master to a degree, he should still be fairly challenging to beat. Especially since no one has fought an airbender in over a hundred years'_

Azula's musings were cut short as they finally arrived at the room that she and her father would be dining in this morning. Khan and Han without word or command each took their place at the sides of the door, prepared to bar anyone from entering without permission or reason, or to quickly enter if there was an unforeseeable... complication.

'Don't see how, father never picks a room just for the hell of it, and even if he does, he has his people search it top to bottom, inside and out weeks in advance before he uses it for anything' Azula thought as she entered the room to see her father was already there.

Azula bowed deeply to him "Fire Lord... good morning"

Ozai, who was in the middle of reading a small scroll, looked up to his second born and nodded "Princess Azula, good morning"

Azula stood upright and made her way to her seat and took it before one of the servants present could pull it out from her. She made the mistake of letting Piteo pull a chair out from her once. Safe to say, she's not too inclined to reenact the embarrassing moment so long as she drew breath. Ozai waited until she was seated before he nodded to the servants who began to set the table with plates, cups, silverware and napkins. As they did, Azula took the time to examine the room as her father returned to reading the scroll before him.

It wasn't very large, but it had a window that gave her and her father a beautiful view of the capital and the Plaza and harbor farther down the dormant volcano the capital sat on. She was curious as to why her father picked this room before she noticed that her father had finished reading the scroll and was putting it away. Azula quickly turned her attention to the Fire Lord as he turned his gaze towards her. His face, his voice, his eyes even, betrayed nothing to way he was feeling.

"Piteo has faired poorly against the Avatar"

Azula struggled to keep herself blank and calm, that, was not what she expected to start off with this morning. After several seconds, Azula cleared her throat and spoke as the servants began t bring out food.

"Oh? In what way father?" Azula asked, keeping her tone calm and collected.

"He allowed him to escape" Ozai said in a indifferent tone "Once more, he let the Avatar escape with several dozen Earthbenders who will in return begin to reek havoc on our forces in the region"

Azula nodded at this "I suppose, however it wasn't entirely his fault father. He-"

"hadn't gotten enough sleep, yes his Captain said as much. But is no excuse" Ozai said as he looked down at his food before grabbing a fork and knife and began to cut into the cooked meat "He was up against a boy, one that was not trained for war, one that has not seen true combat like he has, and has spent the better part of a hundred years, if the reports are accurate, in a block of ice floating around the ocean until he was discovered by mere chance"

Azula noted that throughout her fathers triad, while his actions and voice were calm, his eyes seemed to grow darker, angrier even. She knew her father didn't have the best opinion of Piteo, but she believed, to a degree, that he was expecting just a little too much from him. Yes, Piteo should have faired better given his training, but he's never actually fought someone that could not only be faster then him, but even more powerful as well. Yugito, for all her spars she had with them, never used even a quarter of her strength against them.

She doubted the Avatar will be as merciful.

It was than that Azula decided to speak up "True, he could have preformed better, but there could be a silver lining in this"

Ozai's brow furrowed slightly at this as he stared at his daughter, a sign for her to continue voicing her thoughts.

"As long as I've known Piteo father, he's never been one to take failure, in any shape or form, well. He will beat himself up over this to be sure. Mentally replay every single second of his encounter with the Avatar... and strive to correct himself in the next encounter. Piteo, father, will not fail a second time" Azula said as she took a bite of her meal.

She may be laying it on a bit thick with Piteo striving to be better, and she was out right lying about Piteo beating himself up over the failure of his fight, but she knew that if her father even for a second beloved that the Ghorala would be a liability in the war effort... she didn't want to chance anything.

 _'I'll be sure to strongly advise Piteo to do better in his next encounter'_ Azula thought as she ate her meal _'And let Sifu Yugito know, so that she may properly reprimand him when she see's or writes to him next'_

The fire Lord, didn't respond right away, instead he merely stared at Azula with that unblinking gaze of his. After several minutes of tense silence, Ozai nodded, slightly as he returned to his food.

"Let us hope your assessment holds true daughter... I will not tolerate more weakness in this house"

 _'Weakness like Zuko'_ Azula though as she nodded "Of course father, and if he should prove to be that... I will settle it, personally. Assuming of course, Colonel Yugito doesn't do so herself"

She never would, raise a hand against Piteo, and Azula knew for a fact that Yugito never would either. Especially the former if Ozai commanded her to, if anything Yugito would outright burn the message or even messenger that Ozai sent with such a order. If anything, she'll merely have Piteo placed under her command where she could better protect him. Ozai, if he really wanted Piteo dealt with, wouldn't make a move against him or Yugito for some time. The blonde Ghorala was too popular with the troops and people to be labeled as a traitor or punished too severely without very good reason.

Simply saying it was because she was protecting a student of her's from losing to someone that was theoretically more powerful and dangerous in almost everyway from being punished wouldn't be good enough for the masses.

 _'Nor I_ ' Azula thought as she took a sip of her morning tea as the sounds of her and Ozai's silverware clinked and clanged in the room for the rest of the morning.

After some time, Ozai finished his meal before excusing himself, leaving Azula alone to her thoughts. The Crown Princess watched her father depart and waited several minutes before she too excused herself, having lost her appetite at the implication from her father that if Piteo failed in his next engagement with the Avatar, should there be one, he would be... dealt with.

Several minutes later Azula found herself returning to her room, Khan and Han behind her. Azula had already removed her shoes, they were to tight and Azula knew if she stayed in them any longer, she'd get blisters. She much preferred her boots, more sturdy and easier to walk and run in, or fight should she require to do so.

' _When I'm Fire Lady, I'm doing away with the requirement to wear these accursed things unless someone displeases me. Then they can wear them or face a stay in the dungeons'_ Azula thought with a scowl towards the shoes in her hands, she never understood how her mother, Mai and various other women of the court could stand the blasted things.

Finally Azula arrived at her rooms and without pause, pushed open the doors and entered her private threshold while Han and Khan stood back and took up their posts. Azula glanced towards her bed and saw that her armor had been laid out, ready to be worn by the firebending prodigy. Azula smirked as she closed her doors and quickly removed her dress, almost ripping it in her haste as she tossed the garment aside and made her way to her drawers and began to remove the pants, bindings and shirt she would need to wear under her armor.

Several minutes later, Azula stood before her mirror and admired her reflection and made sure her armor was secured to her figure before nodding in satisfaction and prepared to head for the door and to the Palace's training grounds before she heard Khan and Han's voices outside along with a another's that she didn't recognize. After a few moments, the conversation outside stopped before it was followed by a knock at the door.

"Yes?" Azula spoke up as she watched the door open and Han's head appear in the doorway.

"Princess, the Fire Lord has called a War meeting. He wishes for you to be present"

Azula mentally sighed at this before she glanced back at Khan and Han "Very well. Give me a few minutes to make a few adjustments to my appearance. The Fire Lord will not mind if I appear for the meeting in armor, but I have to somewhat look 'presentable'"

Which meant some light make up... ugh.

"Yes Princess" Han nodded before he backed out of the room and closed the door.

Azula took several deep breathes as she went to her vanity and picked a shade of red lipstick and Koh to apply to her face before turning on her heel and making her way to the door.

...

The meeting started off as usual, various high ranking commanders, for both the defense of the Fire Nation and their forces abroad in the Earth Kingdom, being announced and shown to their respective seats at a large conference table that housed a very detailed map of the Earth Kingdom. Once all were seated, they would stand when the Fire Lord, along with Azula, entered the room and all bow. Once Azula and her father were seated, they would take their seats as well and the Fire Lord would start off the meeting with status reports from the various commanders.

To Azula, it was nothing new.

The war had reached a sort of stalemate that has yet to go in either's side favor, Jeong Jeong the deserter was still at large and slowly gaining a following in the Colonies and crop and iron production in the colonies was a bit lower this year than expected. The only difference this time, was that one of the commanders, the one that oversaw the southern regions of the Earth Kingdom and western shoreline, reported several 'incidents' with the Avatar. Her father, spent quite a bit of time on this subject, questioning the commander about the moral of the troops and that of the enemy in light of the Avatar's return and recent activities.

"At first my lord, we weren't too concerned with the Avatar's return, at least to the point we worried that his appearance could radically affect our campaign's" the commander said with a frown as he glanced at the large map "We did, however grow concerned when our agents reported the Avatar arriving and entering Omashu. We believed that he was perhaps about to lead a assault on our forces, Omashu having the largest standing army in the Earth Kingdom outside of the forces in and around Ba Sing Se itself or even aid in the upcoming siege we have planned. But, our fears were, for the moment, laid to rest when he left not even a few days later. We're still not sure why he even bothered to go there in the first place of not to help the Earth Kingdom's war effort"

Ozai hummed at this as another commander, Commander Zin, cleared his throat and began to speak.

"As it stands, regardless, we're still gathering our men in preparation for the assault on Omashu" Commander Zin said as he stroked his beard "We'll need a massive army, perhaps as big as Lord Iroh's was when he laid siege to Ba Sing Se. Omashu is under the rule of perhaps the most powerful Earthbender in the world. Certainly the most experienced"

Ozai hummed at this as he stared at the map while Azula's gaze drifted towards the North and South Poles. She then turned her attention to Admiral Chin, supreme commander of the Fire Nation's Navy "Admiral, what of the Water Tribes? Is there any sign they intend to become more involved with the war?"

Chin blinked at this before he shook his head "No, Princess..."

He then gestured towards the Southern tribe "The tribes of the South have all been broken. Instead of being a confederation of tribes like they once were, our attacks have left them fragmented and divided over dozens of villages across the artic tundra. And as far as our intelligence goes, there are no more Waterbenders, the last being killed off only a few years ago"

"Though one of the Tribesmen that travels with the Avatar is a waterbender, is she not?" Azula said with her eyes narrowing "Clearly, our spies have missed a few"

"Perhaps..." the admiral said with a wince "However, decades of attacks on the South has all but broken them. It's the North I'm more concerned with. They've been oddly silent these past few years. Ever since our failed raids on the North ended almost fifty years ago. Of the two, they have the manpower and resources to wage a effective war against us"

Azula nodded at this before she glanced back at the map with narrowed eyes, her attention on the Avatar's movements... particularly the direction they seem to be going in "Do we have at least a force ready for when the North becomes involved?"

Admrial Chin frowned at this "Princess, I don't under-"

"The Avatar is traveling North" Ozai interrupted the man as he gazed at the map as well "It is the only viable place he can go to, to learn Waterbending, Admiral. If he arrives there, he may convince the Northern Tribes to enter the war, and we'll be fighting on two fronts"

Azula, noted with some amusement, had no answer as he glanced at the map for several minutes before he sighed and turned his attention to the Fire Lord "I will... begin making preparations the moment this meeting is adjourned, my lord"

"See that you do" Ozai said with his eyes narrowing slightly "In fact, I wish to read about them before you leave the capital"

The admiral bowed at this before he turned to one of his aides and began to whisper in the man's ear as the meeting continued.

...

"Well, that was an insightful meeting" Azula said half an hour later as she entered her room.

"Yes Princess" Khan said as he and Han stood at the boundary of the hallway and her rooms "Though I noticed it went on longer than usual by ten minutes"

Han nodded in agreement "Mostly because of the Avatar's recent activities"

Azula paused at this and slowly turned towards Khan and Han with a blank expression on her face "I wasn't aware you were permitted within the meeting room"

"We were not m'lady…" Khan said as he and Han shared a look before turning to Azula again "We stood very close to the entryway"

"Just incase" Han added.

Azula smirked slightly at this "Is that right?"

"Yes" the replied in unison.

Azula snorted at tis as she turned away from the pair "You best hope my father doesn't catch you one day. You know how he is about people not belonging in the meeting room listening in"

"Of course m'lady" Han said as he and Khan both nodded before they both turned and saw a royal messenger approaching the Princess's room.

Khan stepped forward to speak with the man while Han fell back a little and observed their surroundings. It was a method they've performed for years now, one interacts with the people while the other watches the area for anything... amiss. There've been one too many assassinations as of late in the court for them to take any chances with Princess Azula's safety.

Azula paused in the removal of her armor and watched the messenger speak with her guards. After a few hushed words and some hand gestures from each, the messenger produced a scroll and handed it to Khan before he backed away and turned on his heel and went on his way. Khan and Han both watched the man leave and waited several moments before Khan looked down at the scroll closely. He then handed it to Han who did the same before he turned towards Azula.

"You've received a letter, m'lady" Han said.

"From who?" Azula said as she approached Han and held her hand out for the scroll.

"He said it was from lord Piteo, m'lady" Khan said as he took his spot by Azula's door and observed the hallway.

Azula hummed as she looked at the document before nodding and turned away from Han and Khan "Very well. I do not wish to be disturbed for the rest of the day"

"Of course Princess" Han said with a bow as he grabbed the handles for Azula's doors and pulled them closed.

Azula waited a second before she walked over and locked the doors herself and then turned her attention to Piteo's letter. The Princess made her way over to her vanity as she broke the seal and opened the scroll as she took her seat and began to read the letter.

 _Azula,_

 _How's things been? Life out here has been pretty quiet, much more preferable to how things were when I was under Zhao._

"Your welcome for that by the way..." Azula said as she leaned back in her chair and continued to read, briefly wondering if Piteo ever questioned why it was his transfer request was accepted so quickly.

Being the Crown Princess had it's perks, she supposed.

 _Anyway, I've been tasked to find a Ghorala that's apparently been harassing our troops in the Southern regions. They've hit a number of supply convoys and even a few strongholds but nothing too serious. Honestly, I think it's just a guy, or girl that happens to be very good at stealing. I mean, all the places that were hit, the only things that were taken were usually jewels and other valuable stuff. What would a Ghorala working for the Earth Kingdom need that kind of stuff for? I doubt the Earth Kingdom is short on money._

Azula agreed with Piteo's assessment, it did strike her as odd that a supposed Ghorala was stealing rather than damaging Fire Nation military assets. There were a number of times the thief could have laid explosives or even outright assassinate key military officials, but decided not to.

"Whoever they are, they aren't particularly interested in the War... still, a rogue agent like this could be trouble if someone in the Earth Kingdom of sufficient wealth heard of this person and decided to hire them for more... lethal results" Azula muttered to herself as she continued to read the letter.

She grinned a little at Piteo mentioning his new friend, Arekkusu, a Komodo Rhino he was able to acquire and a apparent 'Earthbending Lemur'. Azula wasn't sure what that was or if Piteo was being literal or not. She's never heard of a Lemur that could Earthbend before. Aside from Badger Moles, she's never heard of any other animal capable of manipulating the element of Earth.

 _'Then again, I've never cared much for what's in the Earth Kingdom, so maybe there are a few animals here and there capable of such things_ ' Azula thought with a shrug as she continued to read.

 _Also there's this girl that I've met. Real pretty too, but she's kinda a thief. I mean she stole my coin pouch, twice! So obviously she has to be a thief, at least that's usually what it means right? And then when I tried to confront her about it, she kissed me-_

Azula's brow twitched slightly at this.

She never did like it when a girl was involved in whatever it was that Piteo was going through. Mainly because half the time the girl was simply using him to try and either gain her favor or perhaps catch Zuko's eyes, something that was nigh impossible. Zuko seemed to have eyes only for Mai's depressing being that she still couldn't comprehend and Azula did not tolerate her friends being used to further another's ambitious agenda. The irony wasn't entirely lost on Azula but at least she made a habit of it being over dumb little things or apologizing afterwards.

 _'Still...'_ Azula thought as she placed the letter on her table and interlocked her fingers as she gazed at her reflection in deep thought while trying to ignore the annoyance and anger she felt at reading and hearing the word 'kissing' echo through her head _'I'll be sure to remind him to not let a pretty face distract him from his mission... especially if it's some Earth Kingdom savage!'_

Azula would be dammed if she let some foreigner snatch her friend away to hurt... especially one as pompous as this slut appeared to be!

...

* * *

And done.

Next chapter, Piteo closes in on the illusive thief...


End file.
